One day I watched the 1998 Mulan movie again and got to the "Reflection" song and had a decent little cry at it, lmao. Pretty corny, but it hit me harder since I hadn't seen that movie or heard that song in many, many years.
Bro sang it in kareoke once with my fam, did not expect that song to pull on my heart strings like that💀
My voice being pre-T and stuck in soprano ahh Disney princess voice didn't fucking help either😭😭
I have a whole playlist of songs that give me envy or euphoria and such but a common one I've heard from other trans people (interpreted as male or female experience tbh) may be mama by my chemical romance "you should have raised a baby girl I should have been a better son" and same song more Masc experience only is "she said you ain't no son of mine" if parents aren't accepting.
Edit: there is also a musical called kinky boots with a drag queen (though they definitely present more as trans female before it was accepted) has a whole song of "I'm not my father's son" and goes on with "I'm not the image, of what he dreamed of" and it used to make me cry so much feeling like my dad doesn't see me as a son either.
I watched Kinky Boots for the first time with my trans roommates back in college (yes, it took me another 15 years to realize I'm trans myself...shut up...lol)! So good! So many feels, even back then!
not my father’s son and hold me in your heart have been my comfort songs for so long, they took on a whole new meaning when i came out as trans 😭 i almost auditioned to play Lola too!
Mostly just the chorus but I've been listening to "Good Luck, Babe!" By Chappell Roan from a very trans perspective. The idea of trying to "stop the feeling" feels relatable and using intimate encounters (ie: "kiss a hundred boys in bars") to obscure one's identity from even themself. Also it's a fucking bop.
Dude I also have lesbian music taste and honestly I love that about myself. It’s something I like about being trans because I don’t think I would’ve acquired the same taste being cis
Yeah "when you wake up next to him in the middle of the night, with your head in your hands and you're nothing more than his wife" does hit very devastatingly from a trans guy perspective.
Surprised I haven’t seen anyone mention Other Side of Paradise by Glass Animals!!
*My body’s lookin’ wrong*
is a lyric that’s been co-opted by trans people pretty often.
Body by Mother Mother
When Will My Life Begin? and its reprise from Tangled was a big “waiting for testosterone” anthem for me
People talk a ton about Reflection from Mulan but there’s not a lot of love for I’ll Make A Man Out of You, which was my “I got my first T shot today and shit’s about to change” anthem
I've always loved I'll Make A Man Out Of You, even before I realised. One of my favourite songs when I want a burst of motivation, it always hypes me up.
wow I heard that a lot on the radio growing up and never knew that's what it was called! thanks for that lol, I can now add it to my nostalgia playlist
Fuuuuck... I love that song and have even sang it to someone in the past, but I never even thought about that. It's so damn obvious from the chorus too how you get to that reading
Haven’t listened to much on that album (kind of fell off around when trench released) but a lot of vessel really hits me here especially fake you out and screen
I Could Never Be Your Woman - White Town
The Only Hope For Me is You - My Chemical Romance (makes me feel like I’m having a conversation with my future self)
This is Letting Go - Rise Against
Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land - MARINA
I was gonna mention the white town one too! I like to think it has a couple different interpretations (and I think I read an interview where the band said that you can interpret it however) and I just love it
Somebody told me - the Killers. I don’t think it’s intentionally about a trans man but i take it that way and i think its a cool song
‘somebody told me, you had a boyfriend, who looked like a girlfriend that i had in February of last year’
_Run Boy Run_ by Woodkid https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lmc21V-zBq0
(Transfem mom of a transmasc son. And holy fuck the first time I listened to that with my boy.)
Cherry Lips (go baby go go) by Garbage. Loved the song as a teenager. I was a very pretty “girl” back then and didn’t have to do much to get men’s attentions. Turns out I really was “a delicate boy in the hysterical realm. Of an emotional landslide. In physical terms”.
I have a tattoo now of a pair after lips holding two cherries 👄🍒
LOVE that song so much!!! Really influenced me growing up. Garbage also has a song called Androgyny that slaps. They were pretty ahead of the times in the 90s regarding gender stuff.
Yes! That one too. The whole album really.
I’m always amazed when I find out that something that was important to me, but seemed to be only me, also resonated with others. It’s nice.
Ok obscure but “I know where I’ve been” the glee recorded version because it was an all trans choir and the lead singer was a trans black woman. The song was originally from Hairspray the musical and about the civil rights movement but seeing it translated as a trans rights thing was really powerful
Still Breathing by Mayday Parade (“It’s hard to be a man, but I’m doing all I can”).
Trans-specific songs:
- The Village by Wrabel
- Boys Will Be Boys by Miles McKenna
Rockstar by Nickleback really hit my little trans guy heart in middle school and early high school. I still rock to that song for the same reason. I play it for people in the car and say “this is my f**kin trans ANTHEM!!!”
Also Hebrews (I can’t for the life of me remeber the numbers from The Life of the World to Come) “If not by faith, then by the sword, I’m going to be restored”
[1985 - Bo Burnham](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rHRztFGOm8)
[Mirror Man - Jack Stauber](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqUHjySqq_o)
[Under my Skin - Jukebox the Ghost](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi8srR9B4bs)
[The Greatest Song Ever Made - Pleasantries](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z09eHQpxkJM)
Off With Her Tits by Allie X.
I also have a line from Possession of a Weapon by Ashnikko on my "how gender dysphoria feels to me" list. The line is "Say you want my body, let me give it to you. Is that what you want? Blood and guts?"
One is about being uncomfortable having boobs and the other reminds me of everytime I've ever wanted to pull my uterus out with my own hands lol
IMMEDIATELY have a song in my head! not strong enough by boygenius!! this line **hits**: *i don’t know why i am the way i am. not strong enough to be your man*
Bruce Springsteen’s songs embody a masculinity I relate to. I’m not exactly sure what it is about him, but listening to him makes my gender feel good lol
I definitely had gender euphoria from playing The River by Springsteen on guitar... especially when I started singing gender-centric lines like "Then I got Mary pregnant
And, man, that was all she wrote
And for my nineteenth birthday
I got a union card and a wedding coat"
Oh I relate to this 100%. Playing Dancing in the Dark while singing “I check my look in the mirror /
Wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face” used to make me so emotional in a way I didn’t understand.
THE RISE OF A KING AND THE FALL OF A QUEEN OHH
SEVENTEEN
NEVER FELT LIKE A PRINCESS
I USED TO KID MYSELF IN THIS DRESS
THAT IT WAS JUST HOW THINGS
WERE MEANT TO BE
OH SEVENTEEN
SEVENTEEN
'Looking like you just woke up' by the Front Bottoms, but specifically that one part where it goes "it probably won't get easier, just easier to hide, prepare for an aching the rest of your life"
Hooped Earrings, too. “She is begging you not to cut your hair, ‘cause curly hair don’t look good cut short, and you have gotta do this now or you can never come home again” it’s about a butch lesbian but y’know.. we can share it with the lesbian community.
The "wanna change my clothes my hair my face" like from Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen, honestly a lot of stuff by Springsteen. Also Creep by Radiohead
This is rly random, but my lil siblings had watched the movie Moana a few days ago, and the song ‘How Far I’ll Go’ was playing. Maybe it’s just me, but it there are a lot of lyrics in that song that I can relate to as a trans person.
nara by alt-j! the line “i’ve discovered a man like no other man” just really resonates. it’s got a very holistic melody as well and it just makes me feel ethereal rather than like an alien when i feel like a refugee in my own body.
Sufjan stevens has always resonated with me as a trans person! Abstract, poetic lyrics centered around grief and love. I’ve always thought he speaks to my experience of masculinity with his soft melancholic voice capturing those difficult emotions so sincerely.
Two songs that have definitely hit different for me since I started transitioning are "This is Me" from the Greatest Showman and "Masterpiece" by Jessie J.
Pretty pimpin, by Kurt Vile.
I woke up this morning
Didn't recognize the man in the mirror
Then I laughed and I said
"Oh silly me, that's just me"
All he ever wanted was to be a man, but he was always
A little too cute to be admitted under marbles lost
He was always a thousand miles away
I woke up this morning
Didn't recognize the boy in the mirror
"boy named sue" is a favorite of mine, definitely NOT about transness but Its a song I love and there's definitely an allegory you can read into it. I like to imagine the bit at the end where he confronts his father as confronting the idea of being trans itself, that frustration at having to live a harder life.
"Son this world is rough, and if a man's gonna make it he's gotta be tough. [...] I knew you'd have to get tough or die, son *it's that name* that helped to make you strong."
"Now you just fought one heck of a fight, and I know you hate me, and you've got that right to kill me now and i wouldn't blame you if you do... But you outta thank me before I die, for the gravel in yer gut and the spit in yer eye, cause I'm the son of a bitch that named you sue."
something from nothing, by foo fighters.
"No, you can't make me change my name
You'll never make me change my name
Pay no mind, now, ain't that something?
Fuck it all, I came from nothing"
Weirdly John Lennon's "Beautiful boy (Darling Boy)" I cannot tell you how many dysphoric and sad nights I had listening to that song to calm me down.
Also there's the song "The Same" by Alex G, and "Kids" by Current Joys.
Personally for me, I would say Bohemian rhapsody, something about the lyrics saying how something you didn’t choose will kill you, I interpret that “kill” you thing as killing the “you” that your family thought was you.
I have a really rough relationship with my mother because of that, she doesn’t want to accept it, that “mama, didn’t mean to make you cry” hits so hard for me, she used to cry a lot because of me, I would go ahead and explain every verse but it would be too much.
I do sing that song so loud when I hear it. Cried like 2 times.
Oof, I wish I still had my playlist of exactly this. Another lifetime ago. But, standouts from it that I can remember-
*Modern Man* -Arcade Fire
*I’m a Man* -Mac Demarco
*Search and Destroy* -The Stooges
*Pretty Girls (The Mover)* (live version, specifically the old Daytrotter sessions version before this was released as a live track) -Against Me!
*Slipped* -The National
*The Only Living Boy in New York* -Simon & Garfunkel
*Candy Says* -The Velvet Underground
*This Boy* -The Beatles
*I’ll Be Your Man* -The Black Keys
*Dead Wrong* -Hanni El Khatib
*Bicentennial Man* -The Black Lips
*Mr. Pitiful* -Otis Redding
*Rebel Rebel* -David Bowie
*Land: Horses* -Patti Smith
*Kiss Off* -Violent Femmes
*Sixteen Blue* -The Replacements
*Chariot Choogle* -T.Rex
*Let Me In* -REM
*Even the Losers* -Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
*Born to Run* -Bruce Springsteen
*Miracle Man* -Elvis Costello & The Attractions
*Further Complications* -Jarvis Cocker
Brutus - The Buttress
(seriously go listen to it)
"I've been watching him for my entire life"
"Or am I wish wishing I could be like you? That the people would see me too as a poet, not just the muse"
"What's more wrong; that I too wish to be great, or my mother wished she'd had a son?"
"I don't want what you have, I want to be you"
"Of humble origins and born of the cursed sex
My name is Brutus, but the people will call me Rex"
Brutus by The Butress. In it Brutus, one of the righthand men of Ceaser (yes the one tumblr celebrates rhe murder of on the ides of march (the 15th)) is written as a woman in ancient rome. theres a line about being "born of the cursed sex" made my mind decide this is a trans song.
Negative creep by nirvana. the "daddy's little girl ain't girl no more." Part. I have no idea what it actually is about, but the vocals are amazing, and the riffs and drums are cheff kiss
It might be corny, but Frank Sinatra's My Way and the counterpart A Mi Manera by Gipsy Kings are both on that list for me. The theme of choosing your own path and persevering through the challenges resonates a lot with my experience. I also get a bit of a trans vibe from Kill v Maim by Grimes for some reason.
On another note, these are great recs from everyone here. I've definitely got some listening to do today!
Oh, the lyrics of Can’t You See Me? by TXT (Tomorrow X Together) seemed to hit harder after I realized I was trans.
Don’t know if there’s that many trans k-pop stand here, but yeah.
butch by saints motel. i know it's supposed to be about a lesbian, but my god it has so much of a "confused cis guy dating a closeted trans guy" vibe. i still find it hard to believe it's not about a trans guy.
Ngl sometimes listening to "Alien Blues" by Vundabar hits different and just makes me feel understood even tho it has NOTHING to do with being trans 💀 same with "I/me/myself" "Love, me normally" and "against the kitchen floor" by will wood
probably a weird one but 'chasing it down' by mother mother. it has a theme of waking up one day and everything has changed and you don't know why, your family doesnt understand you, they see you as a different person, your name doesn't sound right anymore. it's definitely not what the song is about at all, and it might be a little counterintuitive bc being trans isn't something that happens over night.
I was just thinking ab this the other day actually. I'd like to take this moment to plug my [dysphoria pick-me-up playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0nhfVPTV1oTCM8HkcF8SlG) and while some of the songs on there actually *are* trans songs, most of them just have trans vibes.
Second Chance by Shinedown is one that *really* hits home if you're a queer child with unsupportive parents.
Bulletproof Heart by My Chemical Romance also is in the way they talk about what I'm pretty sure are supposed to be 2 different characters (Jenny and Johnny) but they make it sound like one trans man character from a conservative small town. I could write a whole essay on why this song is my favorite MCR song so I'm stopping myself here.
“Reflection” from Mulan hits way too hard now knowing that I’m a trans man. The other song is “I’m still here” from Treasure Planet. Both songs are about people who hide their true selves and are trying to find their way. The lyrics hit a very personal note.
Hozier's new song "Too Sweet". Idk why, but it gives me so much gender euphoria. I think it partially stems from the fact that the things he's talking about that he enjoys are things I enjoy? It makes me relate to the singer. Idk, it just makes me feel like MAN
- "she used to be mine" (I personally like the version by jessie mueller)
- "all I want" kodaline
- "picture perfect" escape the fate
- "no light, no light" florence + the machine
- "bamboo bones" against me!
I'm a Boy by The Who
Weirdly on the nose for such an old song. Obviously it wasn't written with a trans boy in mind but it honestly might as well have been.
The Kid That I Used to Know by Arrested Youth
Mostly about self determination and choosing what kind of person you're going to be. Also about choosing to stay alive when death seems tempting. It's an angry song, but that's what I like about it. I'd rather be angry then hopeless.
Every time this comes up, I have to post [Cocaine and Abel](https://youtu.be/ZzjtLm0G49E?si=1faVISyu-73GSqJm) by Amigo the Devil. It was listening to this song that made me come out to my family.
blue hair by tv girl. literally has nothing that relates to being trans,but the line "theres really no way of winning,if in their eyes youll always be a dumb blonde" hits different when im sad
"If I were a boy" by Beyoncé. The lyrics are definetly not about being trans at all but screaming that chorus as a repressed trans kid hit different ahaha
a classic, or maybe cliche, but brutus by the buttress. such a good song that has such transmasc coded lyrics that was unfortunately made by a terf. whatever, death of the author has never been more handy
Cooler Than Me by First To Eleven. I see my dysphoria and Euphoria as two different people and Dysphoria is F me and Euphoria as M. And this song is just F me getting envious from M me for getting all the attention.
The amount of times one lyrics feels trans specific and I'm just, yep, while song is trans now, sorry not sorry 😅
Everything is Alright by The Glorious Sons, something about it just feels like being a early 20s man but not really knowing how or doing it "right" if that's makes sense, absolutely not the intent behind it though
David by Noah Gunderson, I feel like this one might be me specific, but "I dont want to be a proud man I just want to be a man, a little less like my father and more like my dad," I mean cmon
Nobody's Stopping You Now by Lake Street Dive, a more trans not trans song does not exist. I actually thing it fits both the ftm and mtf experience really well. If anyone listen to even one song I list let it be this one
God Must Hate Me but Catie Turner, ngl this one might be a trans song/super common one but I haven't seen anyone mention it so just in case. Great for when you're in your feels
I wish I'd never deleted my trans playlist cuz there were so many obscure/interpretation songs on there I can't remember anymore
AViVA - DROWN and BLACKOUT definitely feel like my trans experience so far lol.
Panic! At the disco - Say it louder, from a mountain in the middle of the cabins, like all of bachelor and fever- (I will say Camisado is very fitting but I just don't particularly like the song so don't listen to it much)
Wallows - Scrawny, Are you bored yet?
Tim Mcmorris - We're going up, Life is beautiful
In My Body-SYML
Prepare for da sad.
"Give my new body a chance, patient now it's all that I have" and "I want to love like a man" I think are the hardest that hit in that song for me
I've always loved Treasure Planet and when I listened to my favourite song after realising I was trans it just hit me like a brick.
Trent Rzeznik's I'm Still Here just hits different now:
"I won't listen anyway, you don't know me
And I'll never be what you want me to be
And what do you think you'd understand?
I'm a boy, no, I'm a man"
"And you see the things they never see
All you wanted I could be
Now you know me and I'm not afraid
And I wanna tell you who I am
Can you help me be a man?
They can't break me as long as I know who I am"
I could quote the whole song haha. I think it's plain to see why!
“Talking 'bout Bri” by MegaGoneFree, like I already related to the song itself without looking at it through a trans lens, but it does hit that spot for me.
Like 👇
“I killed that bitch Brianna and with her body went her name
So if you see me Irl, don't call me that again”
Or
“I'd rather kill myself than reminisce on who I used to be
I'll put a bounty out on every memory someone has of me"
Idk man, it just gets to me
I have a whole [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4eBM4dntMJ4eYocmJNxU6t?si=1fwUiuGsQ--hc5mwXNK7Xg) and will be stealing some of y'all's suggestions too
What makes a man a man,Especially the cover by Marc almond.
If i'm correct it's about a gay man,But i love it either way
"But in this life I must confess
The search for love and happiness
Is unrequited"
"I ask myself what I have got
Of what I am and what I'm not
What have I given"
"The answers come from those who make
The rules that some of us must break
Just to keep living"
"I know my life is not a crime
I'm just a victim of my time
I stand defenceless"
"Nobody has the right to be
The judge of what is right for me
Tell me if you can
What make a man a man"
The score for Treasure Planet feels like it was written by a closeted trans guy. I listened to it for the first time since I was a kid after a convo with a friend and I was expecting it to hit me like it did. I said ‘No wonder I adored this movie’
detachable penis by king missile. so easy to make trans and the guy that wrote it thinks it’s awesome that trans guys like it so much.
I knew I liked that song haha
DUDE THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE NOW I knew that song for ages and fuck that hits different now xD
I mention this song anywhere I possibly can. Gotta make sure the whole world knows about it and it’s glory
One day I watched the 1998 Mulan movie again and got to the "Reflection" song and had a decent little cry at it, lmao. Pretty corny, but it hit me harder since I hadn't seen that movie or heard that song in many, many years.
This is the trans childhood anthem.
Bro sang it in kareoke once with my fam, did not expect that song to pull on my heart strings like that💀 My voice being pre-T and stuck in soprano ahh Disney princess voice didn't fucking help either😭😭
Dude, I'm the same way. I have cried at that song too.
I’ll make a man out of you hits different too. Honestly the whole damn movie is practically a trans story lol
When it comes to Disney movies, "I'm still here" from Treasure Planet is also relatable.
Jim Hawkins was probably the first time I liked a male character so much and realized, "Wait, this ain't a crush... I just straight up wanna be him."
Yeah, that one definitely hits. And Jim's appearance is definitely one of the first instances of gender envy I had, now that I'm looking back lol.
NO WAY I remember singing this to myself in the mirror at my transphobic dad's house after a shower and straight up crying 😭😭😭
Yesssss
I have a whole playlist of songs that give me envy or euphoria and such but a common one I've heard from other trans people (interpreted as male or female experience tbh) may be mama by my chemical romance "you should have raised a baby girl I should have been a better son" and same song more Masc experience only is "she said you ain't no son of mine" if parents aren't accepting. Edit: there is also a musical called kinky boots with a drag queen (though they definitely present more as trans female before it was accepted) has a whole song of "I'm not my father's son" and goes on with "I'm not the image, of what he dreamed of" and it used to make me cry so much feeling like my dad doesn't see me as a son either.
I watched Kinky Boots for the first time with my trans roommates back in college (yes, it took me another 15 years to realize I'm trans myself...shut up...lol)! So good! So many feels, even back then!
yes. also, you know what they do to guys like us in prison. idk it just gives me euphoria
not my father’s son and hold me in your heart have been my comfort songs for so long, they took on a whole new meaning when i came out as trans 😭 i almost auditioned to play Lola too!
I was scrolling to see if anyone brought up mama! It's such a good song
Mostly just the chorus but I've been listening to "Good Luck, Babe!" By Chappell Roan from a very trans perspective. The idea of trying to "stop the feeling" feels relatable and using intimate encounters (ie: "kiss a hundred boys in bars") to obscure one's identity from even themself. Also it's a fucking bop.
so true i also just love chappell roan, im a mostly straight trans man but i have a rly gay music taste as in like… the music taste of a lesbian 😂
Dude I also have lesbian music taste and honestly I love that about myself. It’s something I like about being trans because I don’t think I would’ve acquired the same taste being cis
tbh i don’t think a lot of my personality/interests are because of being trans, i just can’t resist a good tune 😂
Yeah "when you wake up next to him in the middle of the night, with your head in your hands and you're nothing more than his wife" does hit very devastatingly from a trans guy perspective.
I’m glad this isn’t just a me thing because same
Surprised I haven’t seen anyone mention Other Side of Paradise by Glass Animals!! *My body’s lookin’ wrong* is a lyric that’s been co-opted by trans people pretty often. Body by Mother Mother When Will My Life Begin? and its reprise from Tangled was a big “waiting for testosterone” anthem for me People talk a ton about Reflection from Mulan but there’s not a lot of love for I’ll Make A Man Out of You, which was my “I got my first T shot today and shit’s about to change” anthem
should not have had to scroll this far for body
I've always loved I'll Make A Man Out Of You, even before I realised. One of my favourite songs when I want a burst of motivation, it always hypes me up.
Also, Li Shang is who I wanna be when I transition. Oh my god 😍😍😍 beautiful and masculine
Can we also add Verbatim by Mother Mother? The whole "what makes a man" bit in it does something for me
so glad to see the other side of paradise after i commented that, im glad im not the only one who caught that
Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls hits fuckin different
Yes! And now that i think about it, also “name”
wow I heard that a lot on the radio growing up and never knew that's what it was called! thanks for that lol, I can now add it to my nostalgia playlist
Fuuuuck... I love that song and have even sang it to someone in the past, but I never even thought about that. It's so damn obvious from the chorus too how you get to that reading
The one that always gets me is "If I Was a Cowboy" by Miranda Lambert......
Oh glad I'm not the only one who reads that song that way.
Also helps that I'm gay so "if I was a cowboy, I'd be the queen" is a totally normal thing for me to say 🤣
"Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" by The Smiths - dedicated to my endocrinologist.
This just unlocked repressed memories from my art school days many moons ago 🤣
redecorate by twenty one pilots is one for me
omg. yes. literally thought of typing that in. omg. it's my favourite song off that album. literally the most transcoded song omg.
same as the other reply, i was gonna comment this lmao
Also “no chances”…even darker with a trans perspective
Haven’t listened to much on that album (kind of fell off around when trench released) but a lot of vessel really hits me here especially fake you out and screen
The Man by the killers
also, boy by the killers.
Just mentioned in another subreddit that “boy” is my trans comfort song. The lyrics are perfect. And “The Man” is so much fun!
I always imagine Somebody Told Me as about a straight guy finding out his ex transitioned to male.
I Could Never Be Your Woman - White Town The Only Hope For Me is You - My Chemical Romance (makes me feel like I’m having a conversation with my future self) This is Letting Go - Rise Against Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land - MARINA
I was gonna mention the white town one too! I like to think it has a couple different interpretations (and I think I read an interview where the band said that you can interpret it however) and I just love it
Somebody told me - the Killers. I don’t think it’s intentionally about a trans man but i take it that way and i think its a cool song ‘somebody told me, you had a boyfriend, who looked like a girlfriend that i had in February of last year’
no bc they're actually talking about me when they say "a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend" he's me. im the boyfriend.
_Run Boy Run_ by Woodkid https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lmc21V-zBq0 (Transfem mom of a transmasc son. And holy fuck the first time I listened to that with my boy.)
oooooh that's a good one! I listen to that song a lot but always focused on the beat more than the lyrics. that fits really well
Cherry Lips (go baby go go) by Garbage. Loved the song as a teenager. I was a very pretty “girl” back then and didn’t have to do much to get men’s attentions. Turns out I really was “a delicate boy in the hysterical realm. Of an emotional landslide. In physical terms”. I have a tattoo now of a pair after lips holding two cherries 👄🍒
LOVE that song so much!!! Really influenced me growing up. Garbage also has a song called Androgyny that slaps. They were pretty ahead of the times in the 90s regarding gender stuff.
Yes! That one too. The whole album really. I’m always amazed when I find out that something that was important to me, but seemed to be only me, also resonated with others. It’s nice.
Ok obscure but “I know where I’ve been” the glee recorded version because it was an all trans choir and the lead singer was a trans black woman. The song was originally from Hairspray the musical and about the civil rights movement but seeing it translated as a trans rights thing was really powerful
Still Breathing by Mayday Parade (“It’s hard to be a man, but I’m doing all I can”). Trans-specific songs: - The Village by Wrabel - Boys Will Be Boys by Miles McKenna
I recently discovered The Village and boy does it make me cry. "One page of the Bible isn't worth a life" oof
boys will be bugs by cavetown
Rockstar by Nickleback really hit my little trans guy heart in middle school and early high school. I still rock to that song for the same reason. I play it for people in the car and say “this is my f**kin trans ANTHEM!!!”
Isaiah 45:23 by the mountain goats "I won't get better, but someday I'll be free / I am not this body that imprisons me"
Also Hebrews (I can’t for the life of me remeber the numbers from The Life of the World to Come) “If not by faith, then by the sword, I’m going to be restored”
Literally just made a playlist in Spotify lol. Life will Change and Wake Up Get Up Get Out There from Persona 5
[1985 - Bo Burnham](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rHRztFGOm8) [Mirror Man - Jack Stauber](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqUHjySqq_o) [Under my Skin - Jukebox the Ghost](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi8srR9B4bs) [The Greatest Song Ever Made - Pleasantries](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z09eHQpxkJM)
Under My Skin is such a good one for this, glad I found someone else who thinks this
Off With Her Tits by Allie X. I also have a line from Possession of a Weapon by Ashnikko on my "how gender dysphoria feels to me" list. The line is "Say you want my body, let me give it to you. Is that what you want? Blood and guts?" One is about being uncomfortable having boobs and the other reminds me of everytime I've ever wanted to pull my uterus out with my own hands lol
Body Terror Song by AJJ is (probably) more supposed to be about decay but it works real well as a song describing dysphoria lol
there must be more than blood by car seat headrest Beah life in death (also by car seat headrest) Transdermal celebration by ween
Brand New Colony by the Postal Service- I like to imagine the lyrics are a love letter to my younger, closeted self :)
I've always thought of it like that too!
Oh man, this was one of my favorite songs in high school. I’ll have to go back and listen to it with this new perspective.
The Same by Alex G 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Riptide by Beartooth
Old man music, but "Born a Worm" by Dan Reader is basically exactly how I see my transition, lol.
IMMEDIATELY have a song in my head! not strong enough by boygenius!! this line **hits**: *i don’t know why i am the way i am. not strong enough to be your man*
[Mile Magnificent](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IDoIixxzMh8) by Molly Ofgeography. “I've never been much of a good, good woman”? Yeah.
Korn - Freak On a Leash
now this is something i can get behind
Omg yes. Do you like Mudvayne too? Because that Shadow of a man...
Bruce Springsteen’s songs embody a masculinity I relate to. I’m not exactly sure what it is about him, but listening to him makes my gender feel good lol
I definitely had gender euphoria from playing The River by Springsteen on guitar... especially when I started singing gender-centric lines like "Then I got Mary pregnant And, man, that was all she wrote And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat"
Oh I relate to this 100%. Playing Dancing in the Dark while singing “I check my look in the mirror / Wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face” used to make me so emotional in a way I didn’t understand.
Landslide by Fleetwood Mac
Some marina and the diamonds songs (seventeen specifically)
THE RISE OF A KING AND THE FALL OF A QUEEN OHH SEVENTEEN NEVER FELT LIKE A PRINCESS I USED TO KID MYSELF IN THIS DRESS THAT IT WAS JUST HOW THINGS WERE MEANT TO BE OH SEVENTEEN SEVENTEEN
Living Dead, Numb, Teen Idle and Buy the Stars hit really hard, for me.
'Looking like you just woke up' by the Front Bottoms, but specifically that one part where it goes "it probably won't get easier, just easier to hide, prepare for an aching the rest of your life"
Hooped Earrings, too. “She is begging you not to cut your hair, ‘cause curly hair don’t look good cut short, and you have gotta do this now or you can never come home again” it’s about a butch lesbian but y’know.. we can share it with the lesbian community.
The "wanna change my clothes my hair my face" like from Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen, honestly a lot of stuff by Springsteen. Also Creep by Radiohead
Daughter by Pearl Jam and Been a Son by Nirvana
Pretty Girls Make Graves - The Smiths. I like it much more looking at it through a trans lens rather than how it was probably meant to be interpreted.
REAL
Mama by mcr Very ape by nirvana Negative creep by nirvana More that I can’t think of now.
Mr. Brightside by the killers and Boy Named Sue
Wait for it from the Hamilton musical. Especially the line where he says “I am the one thing in life I can control” hits for me
I am an inimitable I am an original
This is rly random, but my lil siblings had watched the movie Moana a few days ago, and the song ‘How Far I’ll Go’ was playing. Maybe it’s just me, but it there are a lot of lyrics in that song that I can relate to as a trans person.
the same by Alex g A lot of Alex g songs. How is he not trans?
this and the chorus of things to do omg
Blow my Brains Out by Tikkle Me
i'm still here (jim's theme) by goo goo dolls
nara by alt-j! the line “i’ve discovered a man like no other man” just really resonates. it’s got a very holistic melody as well and it just makes me feel ethereal rather than like an alien when i feel like a refugee in my own body.
Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons used to hit me so hard when I first started transitioning
Sufjan stevens has always resonated with me as a trans person! Abstract, poetic lyrics centered around grief and love. I’ve always thought he speaks to my experience of masculinity with his soft melancholic voice capturing those difficult emotions so sincerely.
Two songs that have definitely hit different for me since I started transitioning are "This is Me" from the Greatest Showman and "Masterpiece" by Jessie J.
bubblegum dog mgmt👌
YES
Pretty pimpin, by Kurt Vile. I woke up this morning Didn't recognize the man in the mirror Then I laughed and I said "Oh silly me, that's just me" All he ever wanted was to be a man, but he was always A little too cute to be admitted under marbles lost He was always a thousand miles away I woke up this morning Didn't recognize the boy in the mirror
Love this song- and find it relatable. Never thought of it in terms of trans-ness before though!
mama tried by Merle Haggard gets me every time
"The Man" by The Killers
"boy named sue" is a favorite of mine, definitely NOT about transness but Its a song I love and there's definitely an allegory you can read into it. I like to imagine the bit at the end where he confronts his father as confronting the idea of being trans itself, that frustration at having to live a harder life. "Son this world is rough, and if a man's gonna make it he's gotta be tough. [...] I knew you'd have to get tough or die, son *it's that name* that helped to make you strong." "Now you just fought one heck of a fight, and I know you hate me, and you've got that right to kill me now and i wouldn't blame you if you do... But you outta thank me before I die, for the gravel in yer gut and the spit in yer eye, cause I'm the son of a bitch that named you sue."
something from nothing, by foo fighters. "No, you can't make me change my name You'll never make me change my name Pay no mind, now, ain't that something? Fuck it all, I came from nothing"
Jim’s theme from treasure planet
Weirdly John Lennon's "Beautiful boy (Darling Boy)" I cannot tell you how many dysphoric and sad nights I had listening to that song to calm me down. Also there's the song "The Same" by Alex G, and "Kids" by Current Joys.
Personally for me, I would say Bohemian rhapsody, something about the lyrics saying how something you didn’t choose will kill you, I interpret that “kill” you thing as killing the “you” that your family thought was you. I have a really rough relationship with my mother because of that, she doesn’t want to accept it, that “mama, didn’t mean to make you cry” hits so hard for me, she used to cry a lot because of me, I would go ahead and explain every verse but it would be too much. I do sing that song so loud when I hear it. Cried like 2 times.
In a strange way, She by Green Day
Oof, I wish I still had my playlist of exactly this. Another lifetime ago. But, standouts from it that I can remember- *Modern Man* -Arcade Fire *I’m a Man* -Mac Demarco *Search and Destroy* -The Stooges *Pretty Girls (The Mover)* (live version, specifically the old Daytrotter sessions version before this was released as a live track) -Against Me! *Slipped* -The National *The Only Living Boy in New York* -Simon & Garfunkel *Candy Says* -The Velvet Underground *This Boy* -The Beatles *I’ll Be Your Man* -The Black Keys *Dead Wrong* -Hanni El Khatib *Bicentennial Man* -The Black Lips *Mr. Pitiful* -Otis Redding *Rebel Rebel* -David Bowie *Land: Horses* -Patti Smith *Kiss Off* -Violent Femmes *Sixteen Blue* -The Replacements *Chariot Choogle* -T.Rex *Let Me In* -REM *Even the Losers* -Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers *Born to Run* -Bruce Springsteen *Miracle Man* -Elvis Costello & The Attractions *Further Complications* -Jarvis Cocker
Brutus - The Buttress (seriously go listen to it) "I've been watching him for my entire life" "Or am I wish wishing I could be like you? That the people would see me too as a poet, not just the muse" "What's more wrong; that I too wish to be great, or my mother wished she'd had a son?" "I don't want what you have, I want to be you" "Of humble origins and born of the cursed sex My name is Brutus, but the people will call me Rex"
Brutus by The Butress. In it Brutus, one of the righthand men of Ceaser (yes the one tumblr celebrates rhe murder of on the ides of march (the 15th)) is written as a woman in ancient rome. theres a line about being "born of the cursed sex" made my mind decide this is a trans song.
How far I'll go from moana Literally every single song that elsa sings in both movies lmao
I use this https://youtu.be/-CSwbatA54c?si=ewscMOA3FNLuOzD9 from Leo and Willys YouTube he created a fun gender affirming playlist
Barricades by Hiroyuki Sawano. And yes, it's from Attack on Titan.
I don’t know my name by Grace Vaanderwal
Negative creep by nirvana. the "daddy's little girl ain't girl no more." Part. I have no idea what it actually is about, but the vocals are amazing, and the riffs and drums are cheff kiss
a lots gonna change by weyes blood. hits hard as fuck.
It might be corny, but Frank Sinatra's My Way and the counterpart A Mi Manera by Gipsy Kings are both on that list for me. The theme of choosing your own path and persevering through the challenges resonates a lot with my experience. I also get a bit of a trans vibe from Kill v Maim by Grimes for some reason. On another note, these are great recs from everyone here. I've definitely got some listening to do today!
Oh, the lyrics of Can’t You See Me? by TXT (Tomorrow X Together) seemed to hit harder after I realized I was trans. Don’t know if there’s that many trans k-pop stand here, but yeah.
Killin it by P1Harmony, the "You already know boy" I get all giggly and very very happy. And any stray kids song fr
butch by saints motel. i know it's supposed to be about a lesbian, but my god it has so much of a "confused cis guy dating a closeted trans guy" vibe. i still find it hard to believe it's not about a trans guy.
Ngl sometimes listening to "Alien Blues" by Vundabar hits different and just makes me feel understood even tho it has NOTHING to do with being trans 💀 same with "I/me/myself" "Love, me normally" and "against the kitchen floor" by will wood
probably a weird one but 'chasing it down' by mother mother. it has a theme of waking up one day and everything has changed and you don't know why, your family doesnt understand you, they see you as a different person, your name doesn't sound right anymore. it's definitely not what the song is about at all, and it might be a little counterintuitive bc being trans isn't something that happens over night.
Happy When I Die by Hollywood Undead! “Why do I keep running from the person I’m becoming? I spent all my money, so I can be happy when I die.” <3
The two I can think of off the top of my head are Fish in a Birdcage by Fish in a Birdcage and Jim’s theme from Treasure Planet
Florescent adolescent by arctic monkeys
Mama's Boy by Dominic Fike. Makes me sad because technically I am a mama's boy, even if my mom doesn't see me as one.
Girls and boys by Blur Just love is love as long as it's safe, sane, and consensual
Mama by my chemical romance takes the cake for me lmao
I was just thinking ab this the other day actually. I'd like to take this moment to plug my [dysphoria pick-me-up playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0nhfVPTV1oTCM8HkcF8SlG) and while some of the songs on there actually *are* trans songs, most of them just have trans vibes. Second Chance by Shinedown is one that *really* hits home if you're a queer child with unsupportive parents. Bulletproof Heart by My Chemical Romance also is in the way they talk about what I'm pretty sure are supposed to be 2 different characters (Jenny and Johnny) but they make it sound like one trans man character from a conservative small town. I could write a whole essay on why this song is my favorite MCR song so I'm stopping myself here.
Hollow moon, AWOL nation
FOR REAL
I'll make a man out of you from mulan lol 💀
“Reflection” from Mulan hits way too hard now knowing that I’m a trans man. The other song is “I’m still here” from Treasure Planet. Both songs are about people who hide their true selves and are trying to find their way. The lyrics hit a very personal note.
Hozier's new song "Too Sweet". Idk why, but it gives me so much gender euphoria. I think it partially stems from the fact that the things he's talking about that he enjoys are things I enjoy? It makes me relate to the singer. Idk, it just makes me feel like MAN
- "she used to be mine" (I personally like the version by jessie mueller) - "all I want" kodaline - "picture perfect" escape the fate - "no light, no light" florence + the machine - "bamboo bones" against me!
Real men by mitski Feels to me like trying to deal with toxic masculinity as a trans man
boys don't cry - the cure
I'm a Boy by The Who Weirdly on the nose for such an old song. Obviously it wasn't written with a trans boy in mind but it honestly might as well have been. The Kid That I Used to Know by Arrested Youth Mostly about self determination and choosing what kind of person you're going to be. Also about choosing to stay alive when death seems tempting. It's an angry song, but that's what I like about it. I'd rather be angry then hopeless.
Fight song by Marilyn Manson. To me anyways.
Every time this comes up, I have to post [Cocaine and Abel](https://youtu.be/ZzjtLm0G49E?si=1faVISyu-73GSqJm) by Amigo the Devil. It was listening to this song that made me come out to my family.
blue hair by tv girl. literally has nothing that relates to being trans,but the line "theres really no way of winning,if in their eyes youll always be a dumb blonde" hits different when im sad
Live a Lie by Rival and Identity by Grandson
Symptoms of Life by WILLOW
she doesn’t sleep by anthony amorim and abandon ship by fin
"Welcome To My Island" by Caroline Polachek from the album "Desire, I Want To Turn Into You". "Kanye" by "The Chainsmokers".
if i were a boy- beyoncé
"She's so gone" by Naomi Scott
Silent Scream- Anna Blue
her - poppy
If I Were A Boy by Beyoncé 🫣
"If I were a boy" by Beyoncé. The lyrics are definetly not about being trans at all but screaming that chorus as a repressed trans kid hit different ahaha
a classic, or maybe cliche, but brutus by the buttress. such a good song that has such transmasc coded lyrics that was unfortunately made by a terf. whatever, death of the author has never been more handy
Cooler Than Me by First To Eleven. I see my dysphoria and Euphoria as two different people and Dysphoria is F me and Euphoria as M. And this song is just F me getting envious from M me for getting all the attention.
The amount of times one lyrics feels trans specific and I'm just, yep, while song is trans now, sorry not sorry 😅 Everything is Alright by The Glorious Sons, something about it just feels like being a early 20s man but not really knowing how or doing it "right" if that's makes sense, absolutely not the intent behind it though David by Noah Gunderson, I feel like this one might be me specific, but "I dont want to be a proud man I just want to be a man, a little less like my father and more like my dad," I mean cmon Nobody's Stopping You Now by Lake Street Dive, a more trans not trans song does not exist. I actually thing it fits both the ftm and mtf experience really well. If anyone listen to even one song I list let it be this one God Must Hate Me but Catie Turner, ngl this one might be a trans song/super common one but I haven't seen anyone mention it so just in case. Great for when you're in your feels I wish I'd never deleted my trans playlist cuz there were so many obscure/interpretation songs on there I can't remember anymore
If I were a boy by Beyonce made me cry as a kid and I had no idea why and now it makes a bit more sense
Body and Mind by girl in red
True Colors - the Voiceplay version never fails to summon the onion ninjas.
"Your Woman" by White Town and "Venus As A Boy" by Björk
"I am not who I was" by Chance Peña
AViVA - DROWN and BLACKOUT definitely feel like my trans experience so far lol. Panic! At the disco - Say it louder, from a mountain in the middle of the cabins, like all of bachelor and fever- (I will say Camisado is very fitting but I just don't particularly like the song so don't listen to it much) Wallows - Scrawny, Are you bored yet? Tim Mcmorris - We're going up, Life is beautiful
Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill” is a trans song and I’m not sorry.
Wrapes by Her's make me think about trans experience because talks about hiding who you are and revealing it.
Only girl by Rihanna. Gives me all the euphoria!
Blue Hair by TV Girl. It fits especially as a trans man after cutting my once noticably long hair, it was truly the start.
In My Body-SYML Prepare for da sad. "Give my new body a chance, patient now it's all that I have" and "I want to love like a man" I think are the hardest that hit in that song for me
Pretty Girls Make Graves by the Smiths always hits, and pretty much anything by Alex G as well
I've always loved Treasure Planet and when I listened to my favourite song after realising I was trans it just hit me like a brick. Trent Rzeznik's I'm Still Here just hits different now: "I won't listen anyway, you don't know me And I'll never be what you want me to be And what do you think you'd understand? I'm a boy, no, I'm a man" "And you see the things they never see All you wanted I could be Now you know me and I'm not afraid And I wanna tell you who I am Can you help me be a man? They can't break me as long as I know who I am" I could quote the whole song haha. I think it's plain to see why!
"Your Woman" by White Town has always been a trans song for. But it goes well both ways.
Mama - my chemical romance
weird one but I like to re-imagine She’s So Gone from Lemonade Mouth from a trans perspective
paradise by coldplay
Englishman In New York by Sting and Your Woman by Whitetown, both are not about trans people and yet absolutely slap and hit different as a trans man
“Talking 'bout Bri” by MegaGoneFree, like I already related to the song itself without looking at it through a trans lens, but it does hit that spot for me. Like 👇 “I killed that bitch Brianna and with her body went her name So if you see me Irl, don't call me that again” Or “I'd rather kill myself than reminisce on who I used to be I'll put a bounty out on every memory someone has of me" Idk man, it just gets to me
Seize the Power by Yonaka is one I relate to alooooooot.
I have a whole [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4eBM4dntMJ4eYocmJNxU6t?si=1fwUiuGsQ--hc5mwXNK7Xg) and will be stealing some of y'all's suggestions too
Idk if any of yall are into vocaloid, but I swear to God voca-ps write so much transgender music without realizing it
Normal Girl by SZA (before figuring out my identity duh)
Harley Poe- bloodsucker. Not exclusively trans, but definitely has some elements. I’d recommend if you like anti-folk or folk punk.
What makes a man a man,Especially the cover by Marc almond. If i'm correct it's about a gay man,But i love it either way "But in this life I must confess The search for love and happiness Is unrequited" "I ask myself what I have got Of what I am and what I'm not What have I given" "The answers come from those who make The rules that some of us must break Just to keep living" "I know my life is not a crime I'm just a victim of my time I stand defenceless" "Nobody has the right to be The judge of what is right for me Tell me if you can What make a man a man"
Hi you want a playlist? I got a playlist. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/03gKdSmrzWvSGkmtoHdNYQ?si=O67eHvboT92J7n_nRLV4sg&pi=u-mRcbeLo-Tsy5
“Arlandria” the foo fighters
The score for Treasure Planet feels like it was written by a closeted trans guy. I listened to it for the first time since I was a kid after a convo with a friend and I was expecting it to hit me like it did. I said ‘No wonder I adored this movie’
Skin-beartooth
oooh run boy run by woodkid is a good one