breaking up is hard to do
by
Douglas Messerli
Daniel
Nigro and Conan Gray (composers), Danica Kleinknecht (director) Vodka
Cranberry / 2025 [4:55 minutes] [music video]
The
big question about the Lemon Grove, California-born, Texas-raised teen YouTube
sensation for fans who hadn’t anything much else on their minds was whether in
his 2025 album Wishbone, his fourth record, the always sexually
exploring boy wonder Conan Gray had finally come out as gay at the age of 26, a
few days shy of 27 as I write this piece.
We know he keeps denying that he’s gay, but
in the series of music videos released around the record, Vodka Cranberry,
Caramel, and This Song, all directed by Danica Kleinknecht, the
evidence for his transformation seemed pretty evident.
Let’s begin with Vodka Cranberry.
This video begins with Conan laying out on
the grass and then walking with another cute boy, like him lit up in red
against the California-blue evening light realizing how much time he’s wasted
and wishing it could be just a little while longer.
The song that follows is a sad one about
love affair between the two boys, Brando and Wilson (the name of Gray’s
character in this video and in the earlier This Song) that lasted nearly
3 months, and now, that they’re back together again is about to end:
You
say we’re fine
But
your brown eyes
Are
green this time
So
you’ve been crying
It’s
in the way
You
say my name
So
quick, so straight
It
sounds the same
As
the time we took a break
February
fourth through the sixteenth of May
So
strange to be back at your place
Pretending
like nothing has changed, oh
Speak
up
I
know you hate me
Looked
at your picture and cried like a baby
Speak
up
Don’t
leave me waiting
Got
way too drunk off a vodka cranberry
Called
you up in the middle of the night
Wailing
like an imbecile
If
you won’t end things
Then
I will
After three choruses while the two
beautiful young men play, drink, kiss, pull away, and mope, Wilson doesn’t have
to end it as the boyfriend, Brando, picks up his car key in the motel where
they’re staying and drives away without him.
There’s no question here about the singer
and his lovely boyfriend (played by Corey Fogelmanis) having had a gay
relationship, even if they are on the outs. The beautiful images of gay desire
are what the visuals, the lyrics, and the music are all about.
Los
Angeles, December 1, 2025
Reprinted
from My Queer Cinema blog (December 2025).
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