15 Lesbian Songs & Sapphic Bops to Stream When You’ve Had Your Fill of “Lunch”

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It happened within milliseconds. On May 17, Billie Eilish’s “Lunch” was released and instantly catapulted itself into the canon of great lesbian songs, with some listeners calling it her “most explicitly gay track yet.”

And, well. It is pretty explicit. With lyrics like “I could eat that girl for lunch / Yeah she dances on my tongue / Tastes like she might be the one,” it’s no wonder lesbian TikTok was set aflame. But the WLW world had also known to expect something sapphic from Eilish. In a Rolling Stone interview she’d given a month prior, Eilish described writing “Lunch” as a tool for exploring her sexuality, saying “that song was actually part of what helped me become who I am, to be real.”

“I wrote some of it before even doing anything with a girl, and then wrote the rest after,” she added. “I’ve been in love with girls for my whole life, but I just didn’t understand — until, last year, I realized I wanted my face in a vagina.”

It’s worth noting that in the same interview, Eilish — who doesn’t publicly identify by any specific sexuality label, saying only that she’s attracted to “boys and girls” — voiced frustration over her attractions getting the media-fodder treatment. As she put it, “I was never planning on talking about my sexuality ever, in a million years.” That’s a good reminder we shouldn’t pressure anyone, celebrity or otherwise, to name or share their sexuality. Ultimately, “Lunch” is a standout new entry in lesbian music not because of any way that Eilish identifies, but because it’s been embraced by the community as such.

What other celebrated lesbian songs have earned this badge? We’re glad you asked. Below, find more tunes that lesbians (or, women and woman-aligned folks attracted to other women and woman-aligned folks) have crowned as being songs about lesbians, whether explicitly or thematically. From classic lesbian love songs to synthy new bops to sapphic ballads penned by iconic lesbians — yes, Melissa Etheridge is on here — give ‘em a listen and get ready for your Spotify Discover Weekly playlist to be full of lesbian anthem songs for the next forever.

1. “Not My Fault” by Reneé Rapp

It’s the song that gave listeners (and a mildly hyperventilating crowd at Coachella) the line: “Can a gay girl get an amen?” Reneé Rapp, who’s been vocal about identifying as a lesbian, co-wrote the song with Megan Thee Stallion for the 2024 Mean Girls musical adaptation. Starring Rapp as the allegedly also-a-lesbian Regina George, you can say what you want about how well the movie was executed, but this song and an openly gay Janis were highlights. Other Rapp tunes that deserve a slot on your lesbian songs playlist include “Pretty Girls” and “I Do,” which Rapp wrote about her best friend and The Sex Lives of College Girls costar Alyah Chanelle Scott.

2. "Girls Like Girls" by Hayley Kiyoko

Labeled the “Lesbian Jesus” of pop, Hayley Kiyoko’s "Girls Like Girls" has been called not only a lesbian anthem, but a 2010s-era defining one. It launched the former Disney Channel star into pop stardom and marked the first of many lesbian-approved Kiyoko jams to come.

3. “Love And Affection” by Joan Armatrading

For the past 50 years, Kittitian-British singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading has churned out ballads praised by queer listeners and other queer musicians as quintessentially lesbian music. (Armatrading, famously private about her personal life, has been married to the artist Maggie Butler for over a decade.) “Love And Affection” is one of those songs; released in 1976, it’s been covered by the lesbian band Two Nice Girls and also by Melissa Etheridge.

4. "Silk Chiffon" by MUNA (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)

In anticipation of this song’s release, MUNA’s members told Rolling Stone that “we hope the powerful sapphic energy of this song summons the ghost of Lilith Fair.” When not conjuring the spirit of bygone lesbian-centric music festivals, the Gayotic podcast hosts are known for writing songs, like Silk Chiffon and I Know A Place, dubbed as “love letters to queer romance and heartbreak.” Also, a fun fact: The music video for this song was inspired by all-time classic lesbian movie But I’m a Cheerleader.

5. “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan

The cultural juggernaut that is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, known by stage name Chappell Roan, can’t be overstated. Her star may be rapidly rising now — in no small part thanks to the resonance of “Good Luck, Babe!” — but Roan has been building a devoted queer fan base for years. The lesbian pop star is doing good work off the airwaves, too; Roan recently turned down an invitation to the White House to play a Pride event and, while on tour with Olivia Rodrigo, has been donating some of her earnings to the Black trans-led group For The Gworls. She told Billboard: “Especially as a queer person who has the privilege of making money off the queer community to support myself, it’s important to redistribute funds.”

6. “Closer” by Tegan and Sara

Because we obviously needed to include pop music’s go-to lesbian twins here. Tegan and Sara have become so closely associated with lesbian music to the point of (incorrectly) becoming a cliché. The reality, though, is that there isn’t a standard Tegan and Sara sound because the Canadian indie-rock duo has spent the past 25+ years repeatedly evolving. It’d be hard to choose just one of their songs for inclusion on a lesbian songs playlist, and folks braver than us have tried to narrow their discography down. If you’re new to Tegan and Sara, though, “Closer,” is a fan-favorite among gay love songs and may be the song they’re known for best.

7. “Pussy is God” by King Princess

Is it a bit bizarre to look for recent King Princess interviews and realize most were in response to the Titan submersible accident? Yes, it for sure is. (The great-great-grandparents of King Princess, known off stage as Mikaela Straus, famously went down with the Titanic.) Hopefully King Princess releases more music a la “Pussy is God” soon; written with then-partner Amandla Stenberg, the lesbian anthem — plus the yearn-heavy tracks “1950” and “Talia” — were quick additions to lesbian song playlists.

8. “Honey” by Kehlani

“I like my girls just like I like my honey, sweet / A little selfish” are the lyrics leading off this circa-2017 track, beloved by lesbian listeners even before Kehlani recognized she’s a lesbian herself in 2021. (They’ve said the now-infamous Lesbian Masterdoc helped them make that realization.) Equal parts sensual and soothing, if you’re relaxed by “Honey”’s sound, you’re probably going to like hearing that Kehlani is making an album of R&B-influenced (literal) lullabies. Is the target audience babies? Maybe. That doesn’t mean this is also good news for the insomnia-prone among us.

9. “Come to My Window” by Melissa Etheridge

Few artists have been made as synonymous with the word “lesbian” as Melissa Etheridge. A noted queer activist since publicly coming out in 1993 during President Bill Clinton’s inaugural celebration — to which we say, way to steal the stage in the best way! — her multi-platinum and aptly titled “Yes I Am” album was released just months later, featuring forever-karaoke-bangers “Come to My Window” and “I’m the Only One.”

10. “Lipstick Lover” by Janelle Monáe

Pansexual and nonbinary artist Janelle Monae has been making music about love, sex, and attraction between all kinds of people for years; their song with Erykah Badu in 2013, Q.U.E.E.N., was originally titled Q.U.E.E.R., and Monáe has put out many a sapphic ode since then, including 2018’s “Pynk.” A bit more recently, their song “Lipstick Lover” steamed up listeners’ earbuds with lyrics like “I like lipstick on my neck / Hands around my waist, so you know what's comin' next / I wanna feel your lips on mine.”

11. “Emily, I’m Sorry” (and “$20” and “True Blue”) by boygenius

We couldn’t justify making it any further down this lesbian songs list without a track (or three) from the “queer Beatles.” Each is the creation of a different boygenius member; Phoebe Bridgers wrote the sorrowful “Emily, I’m Sorry” — allegedly inspired by a former relationship with voiceover actor Emily Bannon — while Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus penned “$20” and “True Blue,” respectively. And while “Emily, I’m Sorry” might be the only song in this trio with explicitly queer lyrics, we felt we needed to include all three, in no small part due to the Kristen Stewart-directed music video that links them.

12. “i wanna be your girlfriend” by girl in red

To follow up boygenius with another all-lowercase act beloved by queer listeners: Why not lose the subtext and drop the innuendos? With lyrics like “I don’t wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips (ooh-ooh-ooh) / I wanna kiss you until I lose my breath,” this lesbian anthem from Norwegian artist girl in red (or, Marie Ulven off stage) is about as overt as it gets. Girl in red named her project after a teenage crush on — you guessed it — a girl in a red sweater, and the “bedroom pop” songs that followed quickly gained an audience on lesbian and queer-writ-large TikTok, for good reason. Once you’re done listening to “i wanna be your girlfriend,” the list of sapphic girl in red songs to queue next, with titles like “girls,” “forget her,” and “we fell in love in october,” is robust.

13. “Constant craving” by k.d lang

This is another one of those lesbian anthems that kind of has to be included on any semi-complete lesbian songs playlist. Released in 1992, its impact was deeply felt; not only did “Constant Craving” enjoy quick mainstream success, being nominated for Song of the Year and winning Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 1993 GRAMMYs, it was also instantly recognized as a “paean for longing and desire” that “hoisted LGBT issues firmly into the mainstream and subverted country music,” as a writer for The Guardian put it.

14. “Flaming Hot Cheetos” by Clairo

First, let us enjoy this “straight guy that just turned 20” asking Reddit why his roommates think he’s gay or bi because he loves to sing Clairo in the shower. (He, correctly, attributes this to toxic masculinity. Good for you, Straight Guy Who Just Turned 20, and wishing you well on your journey!) Second, it’s been a little while since we’ve seen a new album from Claire Elizabeth Cottrill, or Clairo, but that’s thankfully changing in July. Hopefully the bisexual singer-songwriter’s new album contains more sapphic bops like “Flaming Hot Cheetos,” “Pretty Girl,” and “Sofia.”

15. “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman

Could it even be a lesbian songs playlist without this one? Although the amount and variety of explicitly lesbian and WLW music has (wonderfully) ballooned since the early days of Tracy Chapman and Melissa Etheridge, homage needs to be paid where it's due. “Fast Car” has long been an iconic song across audiences, and now with the recent Luke Combs cover, it’s seeing renewed mainstream success. But for a lot of queer listeners, the song’s resonance never waned, something that’s perhaps especially true for Black, working-class lesbians. As reactions to Chapman’s performance of the song at the 2024 Grammy’s showed, “Fast Car” is a lesbian anthem that listeners across identities will continue returning to for years to come.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue