Rolling Stone writer Barry Walters, in a CBS News segment tied to his new book Mighty Real, said that a single word can change how a love song is heard. In the segment, Walters discusses how LGBTQ listeners often have to mentally adjust mainstream songs to relate to them.
The CBS News piece says Sam Smith’s new single, “My Guy,” is notable because it openly uses a masculine noun to describe a same-sex relationship. Unlike Smith’s 2022 hit “Unholy” with Kim Petras, the song is described as nonconfrontational and straightforward.
Walters says that LGBTQ-themed pop is still rarely this direct, especially from an artist with Smith’s level of fame. He frames the song as a small but important advance in mainstream music.
The segment also places that kind of artistic shift in a longer history of LGBTQ music, comparing today’s more visible pop expressions with earlier provocateurs such as Little Richard and David Bowie. CBS News describes Smith’s song as part of a “gentle revolution” in pop music.
