Anyway, I think a good number of pop songs written/sung by cishet singers would make more sense if we assume that the relationship pictured is gay. In particular, I was listening to Sabrina Carpenter and two of her songs, Too Young and Two Young Hearts, and multiple themes which recurred in the lyrics of both songs echoed with the gay and especially wlw (more likely as Sabrina Carpenter is a girl) experience of romance, in this essay I will
First of all, there is the recurring theme both in the lyrics and the title of the song of being young. This is commonly used as a defence against lgbtq+ romance, as it is seen as “too mature” to allow young children to be exposed to it; furthermore, many teenagers and young adults are told that “their brains are still developing” and “it’s impossible to be certain about your sexuality” at that young age, which may often be used as an attack to convince these young people that they should be heterosexual and to dissuade them from exploring ideas to the contrary.
In the chorus of Too Young she describes the similar experience of being told that she “can’t feel” the things she is (which I believe is referring to a crush on another girl) and she says that “what I’m feeling is real”. A common form of homophobia is to simply deny that it exists and that could well be what is happening here.
Another example comes from the second verse, where Sabrina asserts that she wants to go “to a place where nobody says no” which could be interpreted as an escape from the homophobic attitudes that might prevent her from admitting to having it pursuing a romantic interest in a girl.
The theme of escaping from her homophobic surroundings is carried over to the other song being analysed here, Two Young Hearts, especially in the bridge, where she says that “we’re gonna keep on running” and that “we are a part of something, something as old as time” which may confirm that she is part of the lgbtq+ community which indeed has a long and rich history, and further serves to continue this narrative of being denied a relationship on the grounds of her sexuality and trying to escape to a place where she can freely practise this.
In the pre-chorus she suggests that “maybe in another lifetime” or “maybe when we’re older” they can have this relationship, which echoes the themes of being “too young” to have a wlw relationship and that it is forbidden or taboo to acknowledge its existence, for it to be dismissed out of hand (presumably by her parents).
In conclusion, these songs - and probably others, considering that I looked through these two songs in like 15 minutes and could do more in more time - are about wlw love and not The Straights, thank you for coming to my ted talk
