The soundtrack to my coming out

Tegan and Sara, Wake Up Exhausted
Last week I went to a Tegan and Sara concert. If you aren’t familiar with them, they are a Canadian music duo comprised of queer twins, Tegan and Sara. Their music has become more popular over the years and they played an awesome show in DC.
Seeing them perform for the second time got me thinking back to when I first got to know their music. It was the summer before my senior year of college, and I had just come out. I was living in my hometown, doing a program at the local university. I didn’t know any queer folks there and didn’t feel comfortable coming out to the other students in the program.
I did a lot of reading that summer, and a lot of listening to music.
I was lucky enough to see Tegan and Sara in concert that summer, along with Melissa Ferrick, another lesbian musician. Those two musicians became the soundtrack to my coming out. That summer was the time when I really became comfortable with myself, after a tumultuous few months of self-exploration allowed me to admit what I had been avoiding for years.
I’ve included two of their songs that really take me back to that time, lyrics after the jump.
Melissa Ferrick, Will You Be the One

Will You be the One, Melissa Ferrick
will you be the one i’ve wanted?
will you read my mind?
will you ask me where i hurt
and heal me with your eyes?
will i look at you with wonder
and never doubt our love?
yeah, are you the one
that i’ve been dreaming of?
yeah. yeah.
run around my head
and i rehearse our introduction.
run around in my car,
i find the best way to your house.
and even though i have never seen you
from what my friends tell me,
you are walking grace.
so who would’ve thought i’d be sitting here
thinking my future could be right down the street.
after all the loves i have lost over borders and over states.
and now i found out, yeah that you and i, we drink coffee
at the very same place.
so could you be the one?
will you be the one i’ve wanted?
will you read my mind?
will you ask me where i hurt
and heal me with your eyes?
will i look at you with wonder
and never doubt our love?
yeah, are you be the one
that i’ve been dreaming of?
yeah, yeah.
i guess i am a hopeless romantic.
i am full of pretty lines.
it’s also true what you have heard about me
i fall in love every time.
so please let me down easy
if i am not what you want.
would you let me down easy
i’ve got a really weak heart.
yeah, yeah.
so could you be the one?
will you be the one i’ve wanted?
will you read my mind?
will you ask me where i hurt
and heal me with your eyes?
will i look at you with wonder
and never doubt our love?
yeah, are you be the one
that i’ve been dreaming of?
will you be the one i’ve wanted?
Wake Up Exhausted, Tegan and Sara
I wake up exhausted it’s not morning
It’s back to sleep to re-dream me
We’re alone and we’re happy
But there you are, angry with me
Are you alright I can stand up straight
Are you alright can you get me off your mind
I hated this city before you came here
So let go and move on
We’re strangers, we’re not friends
I hate this and I hate them
This city’s exhausted and it’s wound up
Soon to be a place that’s just filled up
And I found out that you’re angry
And you’re sorry you ever met me
Are you alright I can stand up straight
Are you alright can you get me off your mind
I am alright I can stand up straight
Are you alright can you get me off your mind