A couple of weeks ago, I featured ‘MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name),’ the latest hit single by Lil Nas X. He has since released another track from his upcoming album that I hope enjoys as much success.
‘Sun Goes Down,’ framed as a conversation between Lil Nas X and his younger self, is a heartwarming (and heartbreaking) look at the pressures of teenage life, especially for a kid who is Black and gay.
In the rapped verse, Lil Nas X remembers his days running a Nicki Minaj fan page and finding kindred spirits online. “Strangers make you feel so loved, you know?”
That line made me think of a video my wife stumbled upon on Facebook, depicting a man offering “Free Dad Hugs” at a Pittsburgh Pride parade. Young gay men clung to him, often sobbing, surely thinking about the fathers who cast them out for loving the wrong way, but finding acceptance in somebody else’s arms.
I’d like to think Lil Nas X is serving the same purpose for countless young men and women out there wondering where they can find the light.
I wanna run away
Don’t wanna lie, I don’t want a life
Send me a gun and I’ll see the sun
I’d rather run away
Don’t wanna lie, I don’t want a life
Send me a gun and I’ll see the sun
[Post-Chorus]
You need an instant ease
From your life where you got plenty
Of every hurt and heartbreak (Oh)
You just take it all to the face
I know that you want to cry
But there’s much more to life than dyin’
Over your past mistakes (Oh)
And people who threw dirt on your name
[Verse]
Since ten, I been feelin’ lonely
Had friends, but they was pickin’ on me
Always thinkin’, “Why my lips so big?
Was I too dark? Can they sense my fears?”
These gay thoughts would always haunt me
I prayed God would take it from me
It’s hard for you when you’re fightin’
And nobody knows it when you’re silent
I’d be by the phone
Stanning Nicki mornin’ into dawn
Only place I felt like I belonged
Strangers make you feel so loved, you know?
And I’m happy by the way
That I made that jump, that leap of faith
I’m happy that it all worked out for me
I’ma make my fans so proud of me, oh
[Chorus]
I wanna run away
Don’t wanna lie, I don’t want a life
Send me a gun and I’ll see the sun
I’d rather run away
Don’t wanna lie, I don’t want a life
Send me a gun and I’ll see the sun
[Post-Chorus]
You need an instant ease
From your life where you got plenty
Of every hurt and heartbreak (Oh)
You just take it all to the face
I know that you want to cry
But there’s much more to life than dying
Over your past mistakes (Oh)
And people who threw dirt on your name
[Outro]
Ha-ah, ha-ah, no-ah
Meet Me In Montauk 
I first heard this when Lil Nas performed it as his second song on SNL. The man is clearly talented and serves as a great inspiration and role model.
😢
Love this song! So happy that Lil Nas X continues to be such a role model and is so open and vulnerable throughout his music. Cannot wait to hear this upcoming album!