20 essential songs for your Pride Month playlist

“Symphony” by Clean Bandit Feat. Zara Larsson

Some songs are on this list for different reasons. A lot of them have been considered gay anthems for decades, while others are more recent club bangers that the queer community instantly took a liking to. In the case of “Symphony” by Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson, it wasn’t just a great song to dance to, but one with a heartbreaking, gay-themed music video.

In the video, it starts out with a young man getting on a bike and speeding down the street, and then cuts to a crash, where we see a bike strewn about at the intersection. Following that, we’re shown another man, crying over the death. When they flash forward a bit, we realize the two men were dating, and the man is heartbroken over the death of his love.

Over the course of the video, the two men are shown doing things like riding bikes and laughing and cuddling in bed. It also shows the man struggling to cope with his loss, while trying to achieve his dream of being an orchestral composer.

To end the video, we realize that Clean Bandit, Zara Larsson, and the full orchestra are being directed by the man in front of a huge audience. When they’re done performing, the man turns around, and all he sees sitting in the audience, is the love of his life, smiling and crying. Honestly, Clean Bandit did not have to break our hearts like this!!!

To top it all off, the song itself is beautiful. Clean Bandit has a knack for mixing classical and modern sounds and turning them into hits that blow up the radio and clubs alike. So even though “Symphony” high-key makes us want to cry, it’s also a great song to belt out on the dance floor while twirling your life away.