How The Neighbourhood’s 2012 alt-rock track “Sweater Weather” became a bisexual anthem on TikTok
It’s Bisexual Awareness Week, a time to draw “attention to the experiences, while also celebrating the resiliency of, the bisexual+ community,” according to GLAAD.
From September 16 to 23, both gay, lesbian, and heterosexual allies join forces with the bi community to accelerate acceptance and draw attention to issues they face, including erasure and visibility.
Indeed, “bi-erasure” is a rampant problem in queer spaces, and was often a joke in online communities.
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Case-in-point, what was a heartwarming moment from a What Would You Do episode — in which a random stranger comforts a young man by assuring him, “You’re bi,” after his friends tell him he’s actually gay — quickly turned into a meme.
@obesetiddy you’re bi. #floptok #wwyd ♬ original sound – sal🧑🏼🎤
That said, niche communities on apps like TikTok, growing acceptance, and a steadily rising number of Americans who identify as LGBTQ+ are changing that.
A combination of these factors has led to the crowning of a new bisexual anthem: “Sweater Weather” by The Neighbourhood, a 2012 alt-rock tune that barely cracked the Billboard Hot 100, but has continued to resonate with the bisexual community in particular.
While the tune recalls a 2010s-era Tumblr rife with black and white photography, Lana Del Rey lyrics, and a safe place to explore sexuality through image, it’s not an explicitly queer song, nor are any of its members a part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Listen.
The catchy tune first began to stick in 2020 when the song began going viral on TikTok as influencers like Nessa Barrett, Anna Shumate, and James Wright used it as the soundtrack for their coming-out moments.
Almost immediately, other bisexual users began hopping on the trend, using the song as both a showcase of bi pride and to underscore their coming outs.
And yes, it often involves noted bisexual style indicator: a cuffing of the jeans!
@jameswrightt plz don’t hate me, i have my whole life but i’m finally starting to love myself
@annabananaxdddd since ppl are still confused, here
@ilanadegann happy pride month from your local 💕💜💙 gal #bi #WLW #Biseggual #SweaterWeather #Transition ♬ original sound – logan
@arix.na Wait till the end 😭 I made her search up the song afterwards I’m posting her reaction after this 😭😭 #foryou #fyp #bisexual ♬ Sweater Weather – The Neighbourhood
Thanks to these monumental clips, as Unpublished Zine noted in 2020, “sweater weather” started to become a shorthand for bisexuality in the same vein as listening to Girl in Red — an openly gay singer whose biggest hits are about WLW relationships — became code for being a lesbian.
The explanation can be traced to its dated aesthetic, as “there’s a likelihood that many of the people with nostalgia for the song that use Tumblr associate it with their emerging queer identity.”
Lyrics like “heart and soul” and a lack of pronouns also lend themselves to a queer narrative, especially one that creates warmth in an otherwise cold and homophobic world, while lines like “you in those little high-waisted shorts” speak to stereotypical staples of a bisexual’s closet.
Still, bi people probably latched on to the track because, well, it’s just a good love song. “It’s too cold for you here and now / So let me hold both your hands in the holes of my sweater,” its lyrics go.
@meissa.com.au Today is bi visibility day 💗💜💙 #bivisibilityday #bi #lgbtq #lgbtqplus #bisexual #queer #ClosetTour #sweaterweather #cuffedjeans ♬ Sweater Weather – The Neighbourhood
Nevertheless, in the four years since “Sweater Weather” became a bisexual anthem via TikTok, our definition of the term is already starting to change.
Thanks to musicians like Billie Eilish and Chappell Roan (who identified as bisexual before coming out as lesbian earlier this year), lyrics, genres, and aesthetics that specifically appeal to the bi community are more visible than ever before.
On “After Midnight” from Roan’s debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, she twists lyrics between choruses, proclaiming, “I kinda wanna kiss your boyfriend if you don’t mind,” before singing, “I kinda wanna kiss your girlfriend.”
At the end of the day, each subsection of the queer community reserves the right to decide their anthems, for whatever reason that may be.
Perhaps it’s not worth overanalyzing, either.
The fact that a heterosexual band from Newbury Park, California was able to pen a tune that makes the bisexual community feel seen is important enough — and altogether, a testament to the power of a good sweater!
Check out more of our favorite TikTok videos featuring “Sweater Weather” below.
@suzanne.macias so this is how it went
@lovleymadoka Only the real ones will get it 😭#sweaterweather #sweatheeweatherperfume#bi#bisexualnationalanthem ♬ Sweater Weather (Sped Up) – The Neighbourhood
@_annatimmer_ Hi, I’m bi🏳️🌈💖💜💙 #lgbt #bi #🏳️🌈 #comingout #sweaterweather #gay #fyp #foryou #foryoupage ♬ Sweater Weather – The Neighbourhood
