POP SONG REVIEW: "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" by Lil Nas X

I rememer when I first watched this video and I thought to myself "this must be the gayest thing I've ever watched." Not in any connotation, just as a matter of fact. Now a couple months later I still listen to this song, I find it playing in my head. Just a real good beat and X is such a fantastic entertainer and instigator. He's on a Madonna path and I'm here for it.

Chris Aplin

Straight women who want gay guys to become bisexual women who like both pegging and being pegged, but also sapiosexual?

Keith Badje

See when I was in high school in like 2005 I went to a motley crue concert where they played such hits like "shout at the devil" and had evil clowns dance around the stage as strippers hung from the ceiling so I don't understand why anyone is scandalized. This is normal. I agree most of the songs feel like half songs. Needs guitar solo or something in the middle, maybe more guests like he did with billy ray. How about a Judas Priest remix.

Katastrophe

I'd argue that millennials are part of 100 gec's core/target audience (and hyperpop's in general, but especially them). Their sound is all about exaggerating the aesthetic of the 2000's, which (purposefully) hits different if you were a music-listening teen/adult at the time. It's also super nostalgic for that sound. Tik Tok stuff is a different country, imo

big bird (not that one)

I agree on the shortness. I keep feeling like there should be an extra verse however I actually think this happens because it's not as repetitive and long in it's chorus. Or maybe I'm wrong. Still love it and am waiting impatiently for the 21st

Zhang

I think I'm somewhere in the middle on Lil Nas X. As an aging hip-hop nerd who remembers that Buck 65 exists, I didn't find the idea of a country hip-hop crossover that revolutionary or think LNX brought anything new to the table with Old Town Road – the conversation around it was more interesting to me than the song itself. On the other hand, I like the Rosalía vibe of Montero and think it sounds more personal than anything else I've heard from him. And if this is going to be LNX's thing – releasing a big song/video once every couple of years that initiates conversations and pisses off a lot of people I don't like – then I'm pretty okay with that.

Oisín Harrell

I don't get *any* popular music, I'm not a hundred percent sure I get Montero either, but snippets of this song have been stuck in my head ever since I heard it, and even if its not the kind of thing I love it felt not just complete but kind of perfect to me the moment I heard it. I'm also about the same age as lil nas. I think you might be right about the generational thing

Nowhere Girl

HE FINALLY MENTIONED 100 GECS IN A VIDEO!!!! this is the best day ever!

I think my favorite part about the song is how it’s very intentionally about a queer experience. Not just that he’s explicitly talking about gay sex, though he definitely is, but he’s also talking about a gay relationship that many young queer people have either experienced or know someone whose experienced it. The relationship is clearly not a positive one, they both have their own issues, one of them isn’t even out, hard drugs are involved (which is something that’s surprisingly fairly common among queer people), and the relationship is probably not going to work about. But both of them are definitely ignoring the warning signs because they’re living their truth with each other, and that makes the relationship feel more significant. I think it’s best exemplified by the “tell me you love me in private, I do not care if you’re lying” - most people would rightfully be offended by only being told that they’re loved in secrecy, let alone it not to be true. But when you’re young and you’ve had to hide so long and you haven’t felt comfortable being able to love in the way you want to, you’ll excuse stupid, irrational - hell, sometimes even dangerous - stuff just to be able to live how you’ve wanted to but couldn’t for so long, and because of that it makes the experience all the more intense. It’s little details like that that makes the song feel more like a “Moonlight” than a “Love Simon”, and I’m happy hearing a song that’s explicitly about being in a queer relationship that’s actually mainstream instead of in my typical niche corners. Also hell yes on Todd fucking with 100 gecs

Christina Kelley

On that note, when I was studying music recording they taught us that the human brain typically decides if they dislike a song within the first seven seconds of it, and that if you don’t hook your listener in within that time frame chances are they probably aren’t going to end up liking it. This says to me a) people like your sister are less willing to wait around to see if a song will get their attention when it’s already failed to do so and b) people like Nas are aware of that and are trying to get somewhere interesting fast before that happens

Christina Kelley

Lil Nas X strikes me as the next beck. He clearly knows his stuff, has an interesting approach to songwriting, and has a very good sense of popularity with an interesting twist. I don't think that he will ever reach Old Town Road levels again, I don't think he needs to. I think that he will continue to make interesting enough music that he will have the fan base through whatever channels he decides to go

Will he be like Stephen Colbert and "collect one of each major award"?

Stephen Gillie

Some people have themselves all figured out and are covered in labels.

Stephen Gillie

OH FUCK I'm not sure I've ever been anticipating a review of yours more HYPE

Nowhere Girl

The epic Blur - Song 2 is merely 2:01. Good things come in small packages? Speaking of Blur, what is Girls and Boys about?

Stephen Gillie

On your point about the new generation just listening to music differently, I kind of get it. I've seen my little sister sample around for new music and she literally won't listen to anything new past the 10-20 second mark. If it doesn't catch her ear in that time, she's out. So maybe Nas is just "skipping to the good part" or something? Beats me.

AstarothLuLz

I never really was either, and I never even went to middle school. Guess you couldn't leave Britney alone then?

I mainly listen to prog rock so the songs I listen to are more likely to be closer to 30 minutes than 3.

I think there was a video cut around the 4:30 mark.

While Michael Stipe has only said that he's identified with the label 'queer,' I believe he has indicated that he's had relationships with both men and women.

Laura Robinson

To clarify your joke about Glee, yes, most of the characters are straight. That said, if you can reedit your clip to cut out this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Salling, that'd probably be better given that the dude was convicted of possessing child porn then killed himself before sentencing.

Joe Moyer

That seems kind of odd. Had Little Nas X never heard of the movie/book it was based on? The phrase "call me by your name" seems like it was introduced into popular culture by the movie. Even if you've never seen the movie, likely any context you would have heard the phrase "call me by your name" prior to this song would have at least been in reference to the movie.

Don McHoull

It should also be noted that George Michael caused a similar moral outrage with “I Want Your Sex” in 1987 which made radio stations and MTV hesitant to play it which is why in the pre-streaming chart days it got stuck at #2. And as Tom Breihan’s been mentioning in the Number Ones column, many of his big peak era hits from Faith have gay subtexts all over them like “Father Figure” and “One More Try.”

My problem with Lil Nas X has mainly been with how short his songs are like we’re back in the 50s and early 60s with barely two minute songs, one of the big reasons I don’t connect much with that era of music. If he could make more full length songs than maybe I could get into them more. You also make a great point at how his songs feel less like songs and more like marketing tactics. Lil Nas X is essentially more of a musical marketer than a regular music artist and on that angle he knows how to be successful at that.

Yep, I was old enough to see New Numa brand spanking new on Newgrounds.

Graf von Tirol

Todd being supportive of 100Gecs is both wholly unexpected and incredibly life-giving.

Henry Kiley

Things I was not expecting in a video about Lil Nas X: 100 gecs and Gaahl

John Rowe

"I wasn't in touch with the kids when I was a kid." Big mood. In middle school, I was an open Britney stan... in 2007. Yeah.

Ryan Storey

Ugh god that couple seconds of Same Love gave me war flashbacks. Seriously fuck that fucking song.

Shiny Skunk

Hey Todd, LNX went on record saying that the song is not named after the movie. I know you like being warned of wrong factoids befor something goes live on YouTube so I just thought you might want to know that bit.

Alan Kase

I think the problem for me was the song burnt out too fast. Like it was huge for me for a few weeks, bun then after a while I didn't want to hear it anymore. I was listening to Old Town Road months after the first play, but this doesn't have legs. It's arguably a "better" song, but the shock value didn't last

Riley Greenstein

Not sure I get the Numa Numa Guy comparison. He's not the performer of the song, he's just a dude who headbopped to a song on youtube. I don't know if O-Zone had more hits in Moldova or Romania, but one of them went on to have at least one hit in Russia.

Alina

I don't know if it's so much feeling incomplete as "he left me wanting more" which is kind of genius.

Taekook

It's an upbeat and combative sounding song about a sad and frustrating situation. Lil Nas X knows that as a relationship it is going nowhere, but he is so attracted that he's settling for the illusion. That experience is often only sung about in very melodramatic "I'm a victim. You tricked me!" terms. I love that he has the balls to own that he's making a bad choice with open eyes bc of an overpowering attraction. "Tell me you love me in private/I do not care if you're lying" fucking kills me every time. The song and video give me chills.

Taekook

I've long given up on trying to get what the kids are into because, as Todd says, pop music is no longer meant for me, and it shouldn't be. I had my time and now it's their turn. I'll just be over here with my Teenage Fanclub and Randy Newman...

Kristopher Bluth

I knew the Numa Numa guy made a second video tho

Triple 9

Would honestly second this. Mark Salling has such an outsized reputation among Glee fans and/or celeb watchers for the horrible things he did that even seeing him and his mohawk flash for a brief second in that clip made me gasp.

Franco del Rosario

As a gay guy myself, I’m... glad that there’s a hiphop song whose lyrics I can directly relate to my experience. (That exact relationship in the song describes my ex to a T. Every single line.) But at the same time, the beat and music are also kinda bland and not that sticky. I LOVED Old Town Road and WAP and even Roddy Ricch’s The Box because they were just so catchy even though I couldn’t relate to any of them. Maybe I’ve just gotten jaded from a gazillion flex songs by straight people, but I’ve almost never listened to modern hiphop for the lyrics anymore. Still though, if this song gives more opportunities for LGBTQ+ hiphop artists to express their sexuality openly in their music, that would be awesome! We could have a mainstream Frank Ocean or Tyler finally.

Franco del Rosario

To the "Common Gay Experience" questions, its an absolutely common thing, honestly something you find just take as a normal tern of the dice

I really liked Old Town Road, but I haven't really liked anything after that.

Raymond

Hi Todd - just a little thing you might want to change in the video. When you make the Glee joke about "one of these characters might be straight... maybe" the clip you show on the word "maybe" is of Mark Salling, a cast member who was later prosecuted for child pornography charges (and subsequently committed suicide). Just saying, you might want to get ahead of any controversy there... I know you didn't intend it, but a gay joke including a clip of someone accused of being a paedophile could be taken badly.

Rich Kee

Also had to google hyperpop lol

Raymond

As a mostly straight middle-aged white British guy, my takes on pretty much anything are redundant (which is correct, given how much of everything already is straight middle-aged white guy takes) but I really like the song. I remember when 3 minutes was pretty much the goal for a pop song, and I have albums where none of them go that long. I like the guitar hook. I like the vocal switching. And yes, I like the fact it doesn't need a solo, a reprise, and it just shows up, does its thing, and goes. The track it most reminds me of is actually Formation. And I like when a great track has a great message, so there's that too. Your review is great, by the way :-)

Alex Manion

Felt old when Tod mentioned 100 Gecs, never heard of them and yeah definitely not into what's going on over there.

Raymond

I'm not sure I've ever been in touch with current pop music either.

I genuinely really like Montero, I mainly the guitar and the lyrics, and I find the chorus super catchy. I liked Old Town Road and Holiday as well, but this one is the one that's caught me the most. I do agree about the shortness of his songs giving them an somewhat incomplete feel, but despite that there are a few of his songs I greatly enjoy.

SweetAgnostis

I totally get what you’re saying, even though I love the track. The best call I heard on it was that Lil Nas X’s preferred genre is Internet. He’s a master of pop culture manipulation and I’m 100% on board for the ride. Even if he’s not an A tier rapper, he’s an A tier celebrity, and I love him for it.

Sean Riley

I legitimately love this song, but it took listening to it without the video for me to even notice that, because the video is just so overpowering. But also, beyond the controversy, it is actually an amazing video too, just aesthetically very pleasing and a lot of cool imagery. It's not subtle, but I think subtlety would have worked against it. And just a minor thing that made me laugh: Apparently the reason Satan is so dead-eyed is that he was not played by an actor but was a puppet for Covid-safety reasons.

Liz Jackson

I feel, gross as he was, XXX should get some of the credit for starting a lot of the sound Lil Nas is running with. He feels like the first rapper to become a superstar off unpolished, 2 minute songs that heavily referenced internet culture

Anthony Pierre Coco

Haha holy shit was not expecting a 100 Gecs endorsement from Todd.

Anthony Pierre Coco

Lol my mom actually really likes Channel Orange. Blonde was too much for her, though. Great vid as always!

Anthony Pierre Coco

Love. It. Hope you're doing good Todd. <3

Alice Allan

Jesus I was not planning on writing a wholeass paragraph but oh well

Str00p

I genuinely really like the song (heard it without the video first, and I'm also very Not Straight), but I do agree with you on the rest of LNX's stuff. Nothing he released between this and Old Town Road has really done it for me. It's why I usually can't stand influencer-music; it always sounds like just another avenue to build success rather than a true passion (i.e. Corpse Husband). That said, the fact that I love this song makes me way less cynical about Lil Nas. I'll stay mildly optimistic about his album for now.

Str00p

Real hot girl shit

Christina Kelley