All the church deacons and aunty librarian types will be clutching pearls and havin’ the vapors after watching the new video for the just released new song “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” from the ridiculously talented young queer musical artist Lil Nas X.
The 21 year old wunderkind has already conquered the pop music world two years ago with his smash hit “Old Town Road” which was just certified as the most watched video ever and in the process won Grammy and MTV Awards and millions of fans even after publicly coming out as gay.
Since then, he’s solidified his stardom while working on new material for his next album to be entitled MONTERO which is his birth name and leaking bits and pieces of the new song and video.
Released this week, the video is a eye popping journey through an array of religious and mythological imagery from a variety of sources including Greek gods and Christian ideology with visual traces of Roman, Hindu and indigenous cultures and all overlaid with a very gay/camp veneer. Lil Nas is a smart cookie and has cast himself as all the characters in the video which opens in the Garden of Eden with the singer portraying both Adam and the Snake who tempts him…and, LICKS him.
The story then quickly cuts to a Roman Forum that’s also part RuPaul’s Drag Race where he’s on trial and then sentenced to Hell/Hades where our Hero must give the Devil a lap dance to defeat him and win the crown of the Underworld.
I think…
It’s a thrill ride with a shooting style that is glossy and lush and features animation styles that come directly from video game imagery. But, while it’s great fun to watch, it doesn’t really make much sense story wise and has nothing to do with the actual lyrics of the song but…when has logic ever stopped a fun music video?
As for the song itself, it’s far more provocative than the silly video, despite all the shots of Lil Nas getting sexy/dirty/nasty with the other “male” characters that he’s also playing. (In a sense, it’s very masturbatory since it’s Lil Nas licking/fondling/lap dancing with HIMSELF in all those scenes.) The song is autobiographical and seems to be all about Lil Nas’s infatuation with another man who likes to ride on the wild side of the street. They lyrics to the song’s chorus:
Cocaine and drinkin’ with your friends
You live in the dark, boy, I cannot pretend
I’m not fazed, only here to sin
If Eve ain’t in your garden, you know that you can
Call me when you want, call me when you need
Call me in the morning, I’ll be on the way
Call me when you want, call me when you need
Call me out by your name, I’ll be on the way like…
Lil Nas also released this bit of information this week via social media in the form of a letter to his younger self:
dear 14 year old montero,
i wrote a song with our name in it. it’s about a guy i met last summer. i know we promised to never come out publicly, i know we promised never to be “that” type of gay person, i know we promised to die with the secret, but this will open doors for many other queer people to simply exist. you see this is very scary for me, people will be angry, they will say i’m pushing an agenda. but the truth is, i am. the agenda to make people stay the fuck out of other people’s lives and stop dictating who they should be. sending you love from the future.
So, a big “yay” for Lil Nas X for breaking down doors and pushing a queer agenda and fun, sly, queer songs and videos.
More, please!
