I’ve been here, dealing with unrequited love. It’s a pretty damned yucky feeling. However, you eventually accept things as they really are–regardless of how much things won’t go the way you want/wanted them to. On “Close Friend,” the “two-thirds queer, two-thirds POC and all three thirds female” group PEPTALK discusses this phenomenon. The group explores what it’s like when that unrequited love is someone of the same gender. Specifically, the song looks at the situation under the lens of “hey, this other person, they don’t feel that way and just want to be friends–and I guess I’ve got to accept that.”

“Close Friend” comes from the experience of bass player Lara’s crush on another girl at church and how those feelings could never really be reciprocated. Again, it’s a sucky feeling. Just like finally admitting you were wrong in a breakup, unrequited loves can be a learning experience. Sure, you’ll still develop crushes on people. Some of these people may rock with you in that way, others will not. That said, you learn from those unrequited loves and say “okay, I’m going to slow my horses and play my feelings by ear. I won’t ignore them, but I won’t immediately blurt out ‘I love you,’ either.” Sometimes, even though it sucks, being a friend in someone’s life who you care about is better than completely shutting them out/them shutting you out. Besides, if they don’t feel the same way? It’s something you can’t beat yourself up over; it just wasn’t meant to go that way. Life be like that sometimes.

Check out the song below and remember to do the thing and support dope music in all its forms. Additionally, learn from your pasts; the past most definitely informs the present and the future.