I’ve been thinking a lot about the lyrics of Our Song, the montage in episode 11 and how Bad Buddy retrospectively changed the way I perceive romance. The song made PatPran become THE couple of the 21st century whose love story holds enough magic and power to nullify whatever preceded them and might possibly follow. The lyrics see Pran considering the possible definitions of love and arriving at a conclusion, only that conclusion is madly inspirational and completely startling. Let’s do a breakdown.
“If our love was a song
If our story was written out to sing along
What kind of a song do you think our love would be?"
The song establishes itself as a metatextual ode at first, planning on turning their love story into a timeless song and wondering what great feats of love it might boast about. Traditionally, love stories are often romanticized to talk about extraordinary things and leave us wistful for the impossible but that's also what distinguishes the ordinary stories from the ones that stand the test of time.
"Is love a beautiful world?
Something of grandeur
Is it a sky, a mountain, a sea, or other kind of splendor?"
The song wonders if PatPran's love story could perhaps be like those awe-inspiring love stories that have portrayed love as a force that stopped at nothing, that which the heavens have wept for, the mountains toppled for and the seas rose in fury for, or other such life-changing stories that people have fought, died and conquered the limits of nature for.
The stories we tend to remember are ones that elevate mortal romance into something miraculous and undying. Modern day love stories seldom talk about that soul-consuming kind of love. After all, doesn't love seem to be more indomitable in a time or world where the stakes are much higher and people have to fight kingdoms, gods, monsters, corrupt governments, time-traveling assassins, aliens or anything else you can imagine to exhibit the sheer power of love?
I think PatPran's love story acknowledges it isn't your typical extraordinary love story, but in doing so, it also becomes the living example of 21st century romance that has convinced the viewers of the magical nature of PatPran's love, that especially queer people have not witnessed since the inception of time.
"I've now realized what my love is about
It's something small that I just can't live without"
The song goes on to dismiss the association of their love with something so grand and epic, and it is right given that this is a simple story about two boys who lived next door and fell in love. Only I see it as PatPran rejecting the definitions of love that romance has supplied us with so far and creating their own.
Naturally, all these popular love stories have had straight protagonists and though they all displayed these epic qualities, it had little resonance with the queer experience in love. It is only in recent times that romance is being written with badass, relatable queer protagonists and making up for what was lost. It isn't an exaggeration to say a lot of queer kids have grown up without inspirational examples of love that showed them they can do everything straight protagonists have been doing and so much more. PatPran are the first example of an explicitly queer love story that has given us the kind of validation straight people get everyday. Simply put, we didn't have a great example to look up to the way straight people have had dozens but PatPran just became our first and ultimate one.
The scenes chosen for the montage celebrate their love as one that is made up of seemingly insignificant memories like a childhood friend, a broken watch that will one day start ticking again, a guitar pick, a song you wrote with the person you love, a second chance with this fated one, pushing the fine line between friendship and something more, finally having the courage to follow your heart and the happiness that results from these small things because you are living your life wholeheartedly with the love of your life. These are all experiences that echo deeply with any queer person growing up in the 21st century.
But PatPran’s story embracing the small things doesn't change the fact that Bad Buddy has still managed to become an extraordinary love story and a whoppingly successful romantic comedy that certainly deserves the kind of praise and hype that has surrounded the het love stories humanity remembers. In fact it deserves much more because it has done for queer people what history has inadvertently done for cishets by perpetuating straight romance. It also showcases grand romantic moments the genre allows it to like Pat's confession on the steps, Pran's declaration via this song and the fact that this story is the queer iteration of a tale as old as time. Have we not swooned and squealed for it from start to finish the way most people would for any so-called epic romance?
This queercoded interpretation of PatPran searching for an example of a love like theirs and becoming one when they didn't find any also coincides with Pat asking Pran, "What we have now, what should we call it?" on the rooftop. It is an inherently queer sentiment a lot of us grew up with. The world has told us that the way we love was not at all the ordinary or normal way and that left a gaping question mark as to what words can be used to define a love that did justice to us. I have great news because we no longer have to listen to the nonsense anyone tells us or let queer kids grow up wondering. Pran Parakul found the answer for all of us!
"Just a love song that you need to listen to
Just lyrics that are nothing new
But you and I know the meaning between the lines"
These lines best embody BBS team's vision to depict PatPran's love story as something absolutely commonplace as het romance and normalize the heck out of queer relationships in doing so. With three lines, it makes up for all the queer erasure from the past and becomes a story that unconditionally belongs to us now. It proves there is no difference between queer love and what the majority of earth's population experiences. It is as ordinary as, and the same thing as what countless love songs and endless lyrics have talked about all this while. And it does that without a half-assed attempt at queer representation, or portraying queerness as the central source of conflict or their entire identity, or ending up ostracizing queer people more instead of making queer romance more mainstream.
Bad Buddy really did that! It changed everything wrong with queer storytelling so far. And this is the truth that queer people, represented by Pat and Pran in this universe have always known and fought for. The meaning between the lines where we have always been right.
"There are no perfect sweet words
Just listen with your heart to find
The answer I've been searching for
Love is nothing else but you"
I have to admit I cry every time I hear Pran sing the line "Love is nothing else but you" to Pat. Pran concludes in plain and profound words that love is nothing else but the guy that he is in love with and he thus formulates the definition of love for queer people. Because what is love? It is nothing other than the freedom to be with the person you love and nothing else but living out our heart’s desires as our truest selves. To choose the person we love above all else and choose them to be our everything for the rest of our life. That single line personifies entire lifetimes of queer sentiment. Though others have tried to define it, PatPran’s definition is the most impressive definition that we connected with and felt represented by so far.
In conclusion, Our Song is truly a significant song that summarizes their relationship and shows us happy endings are possible in real life. If that is not proof of magic for queer people, then what is? I’m not sure if we can convince everyone on this planet to watch this love story and listen to this song but I promise to not stop until PatPran have become a queer household name. Bad Buddy has done way too much for us to not keep its legacy alive.
