Sean Ward, for The Line of Best Fit, said the song "may be problematic in its desire to change someone’s sexual orientation, yet the burning teenage frustrations of unrequited lust are captured exceptionally here". musicOMH writer John Murphy stated "it's a typically teenage view of the world, but shot through with such world-weary ennui that it never becomes less than compelling". In Clash, Yasmin Cowan opined the "feeling of unrequited love is perfectly encapsulated" in the song. Instead of accepting that her love is unrequited, she selfishly asks: “To spare my pride/To give your lack of interest an explanation/Don't say I’m not your type/Just say I’m not your preferred sexual orientation". Christopher Thiessen from Consequence of Sound mentions that Eilish "pokes fun at her own heartache. The song's lyrics center on Eilish's frustration that her crush does not reciprocate her feelings towards him, and wishes that he were gay so they didn't go out with other girls over her. But in lieu of accepting that he's just not that into her, Eilish resorts to a conclusion that’s easier on the ego". Suzy Exposito from Rolling Stone wrote "Eilish means to profess her love for a boy whose lack of reciprocity she finds suspect. Chris Darville of Stereogum mentioned the song is "a swaying torch song about being rejected and wishing there were extenuating circumstances" while Craig Jenkins of Vulture said it "arrogantly attempts to justify a crush's lack of interest in her as a side effect of the fact that he simply prefers men". And it later includes a "tittering audience and applause at the end, insisting that the song is archly theatrical". Jon Pareles from The New York Times wrote the song starts with an acoustic guitar chords and Eilish's voice. Eilish's vocals span a range of G 3 to D 5 and its chord progression follows a basic sequence of Am–D 7–Gmaj 7–Em. The song is composed in the key of G major with a moderate tempo of 118 beats per minute. "Wish You Were Gay" was described as a jazz-inspired pop and classic pop track by music critics. It was important to him that the song got to an exciting climax " hefty beats and all these stomps and claps". It was the kind of love where everything was thrown out there and nothing was latched onto." In an interview with MTV, Finneas said he wanted the song to get to a "bombastic, triumphant place, sonically". In a YouTube video, Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell broke down the inspiration behind the track, with Eilish explaining, "This was a situation where I was fucking all for this kid, like oh my god. I'm fucking proud bro except not really though because I was really into him, like so into him, he's so hot oh my god." Įilish further campaigned with the single, announcing in a press release that for 48 hours, a portion of all proceeds from her online merch store would be donated to The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide and crisis prevention program for at-risk LGBTQ youth. Eilish joked, saying, "I wrote the song and made him fuck a dude. It was later found out the boy Eilish had a crush on told her he was gay. Eilish wanted her crush to be gay so that there would be a reason he wasn't interested in her. She discussed that the song was not meant to be offensive in any way to the LGBTQ community. She continued, saying she felt horrible that he did not love her back, and ended up writing "Wish You Were Gay". She explained to her fans that she wrote the song about a guy that she had feelings for, but he did not feel the same. It was first introduced by Eilish on her Instagram in July 2018. Eilish performed the song during her When We All Fall Asleep Tour (2019) and Where Do We Go? World Tour (2020).īillie Eilish explained in a statement that she wrote "Wish You Were Gay" when she was only 14. The song has received several certifications, including being certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song peaked at number 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100 while reaching the top five of singles charts in Australia, Latvia, Lithuania, and New Zealand. Some critics compared "Wish You Were Gay" to Katy Perry's 2007 song " Ur So Gay". She wanted the boy that she liked to be gay so that there would be a reason he wasn't interested in her. Eilish said the song's lyrics were not meant to be offensive in any way to the LGBTQ community. "Wish You Were Gay" is a jazz-inspired pop and classic pop track with an acoustic guitar and applause at the end. The song was released as the fourth single from the album on March 4, 2019, through Darkroom and Interscope Records. It was written by Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell, while the latter solely handled the production. " Wish You Were Gay" (stylized in all lowercase) is the fourth single on American singer Billie Eilish's debut studio album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019). From the album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?