For Millennials. By Millennials.
Apparently, another controversy surrounding The Weeknd has come up. This time, people are accusing him of using homophobic lyrics in his new single with Gesaffelstein, ‘Lost In The Fire’.
The lyrics in question center around a pretty explicit couple of lines in the second verse of Lost In The Fire, where The Weeknd sings “You’re going through a phase” and “I can f*ck you straight.”
you can seriously fuck off with these lyrics @theweeknd pic.twitter.com/KpbySgAV1A
— Amber Bain (@ambbain) January 11, 2019
Some people saw elements of homophobia in it.
i used to joke that listening to The Weeknd was homophobic but the lyrics from his new song "lost in the fire" are actually fucking vile. in 2019 we're still doing "fuck you straight" and calling female queerness a "phase?" pic.twitter.com/xDH3fnNrZv
— Jill Gutowitz (@jillboard) January 11, 2019
i don't like cancel culture & i'm not saying "cancel the weeknd," but these are the kinds of lyrics that fucked me up when i was younger & subconsciously kept me in the closet. so it's important to talk about and say "this is isn't ok"
— Jill Gutowitz (@jillboard) January 11, 2019
Well done to @theweeknd for managing to deride, fetishise and dismiss lesbianism all in one verse. pic.twitter.com/iefdhs8ACw
— Marika Hackman (@MarikaHackman) January 11, 2019
The song seems to imply to some that The Weeknd is only accepting his girlfriend as a lesbian as long as it’s a phase and he can join in on the action.
Lost In The Assumptions
The tricky thing about music is that it is always open to interpretation. Anyone can find their own meaning in any song. It may have seemed that the song has strong hints of homophobia, but he’s not talking about all women that hail from the LGBTQ community. The song is just about one specific girl.
And it’s not new for straight girls to have temporary phases where they are bi-curious. The Weeknd isn’t implying it’s the same for every girl exploring her sexuality, he just hopes it’s like that for that one woman he’s dating.
Moreover, anyone who’s a fan of The Weeknd and his unique style of music would expect him to have controversial lyrics like this. He mainly covers topics like sex, drugs and addiction. Hence, it’s bound to be interpreted negatively by those who don’t understand the depth of it. Though, just because the lyrics are implying something does not mean the singer is against a certain group of people. It’s not like he’s R. Kelly who actually was sexist and abused countless underage women.
