Singer, songwriter and longtime friend of Music Video Monday Brennan Villines has a new single. “Ahead of Your Time.”
“This song is one of the most personal pieces I’ve ever composed,” says the pop maestro. “It’s an ode to my childhood and growing up confused about my queerness in a place that didn’t understand queerness. I didn’t have anyone to confide in or look up to and had to navigate life in a largely conservative and religious part of the world. I reference my early stages of rebellion, experimenting with drugs, smoking weed from apples, and listening to Neil Young with my best friend, Ben, all while trying to maintain the appearance of a moral Christian life I was raised with. I also touch on how lost and lonely I felt before coming out in my junior year of high school. It was an instant relief but created friction for a while with my family. One of the lines in the song is “your daddy loves you, just give it some time.” I hope that speaks to every queer person who has struggled in their familial relationships and who struggles with acceptance because now, I truly have a wonderful and loving relationship with both of my parents. Ultimately, this song is about reflecting on a beautiful and complicated nostalgia of my journey as a queer man.”
The video uses as its jumping off points one of the most iconic and loaded images in the history of popular music: the cover of Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 album Born the USA. Directing team Zac(h)ks inverted the flag to indicate distress, and put Villines and his steely jaw in front of it, along with a variety of special guests. “For the video, we decided to use a cast of LGBTQ folks holding up a photo of their younger selves. We wanted the video to be joyous and inspirational to those who are scared to come out in this world. Just over the past year, Tennessee has gotten wild with anti-lgbt legislation, drag bans etc. We chose to use an upside down American flag to represent the distress being caused in this country and to send the message to those conservative voices who preach about the value of freedom; are we really free if certain people don’t have the right to live their lives the way they want?”
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