Troye Sivan may be known for his music, but our introduction to the Australian pop star was as an actor. The young up-and-coming star first appeared in the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009, where he played a younger version of the titular character. He then made a name for himself as a YouTuber, posting cover songs and vlogs to his growing amount of subscribers.
This following led Sivan to score a record deal and he released an EP, "TRXYE," in 2014. In 2016, his debut album, "Blue Neighborhood," was released. He followed that up with his sophomore effort, "Bloom," in 2018. He also released another EP titled, "In a Dream," in 2020. Sivan is also continuing his efforts as an actor, appearing in films like Boy Erased and Three Months. He's also set to appear in the upcoming HBO Max series The Idol.
Throughout his music career, Sivan has written from personal experience. His albums are akin to a journal or diary. This has been key to Sivan's connection with his extremely loyal fan base. These are Troye Sivan's eight most personal songs.
8 The Fault in Our Stars (MMXIV)
John Green's "The Fault In Our Stars" started as a novel about two teenagers who fall in love, one has cancer and another is a cancer survivor. It was later made into a feature film starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. The film was a huge success critically and commercially, reaching number one at the box office its opening weekend. Sivan wrote this song after reading the book, which he says deeply affected him. He donated all the proceeds from the song to the oncology ward of the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation.
7 Bite
This song is from Sivan's debut studio album, "Blue Neighborhood." It is a song that follows the typical pop song structure while turning it on its head. There are few lyrics and as a result, they are very repetitive. However, this works to the song's advantage as it is clearly meant to represent a vibe. Sivan has said this song was inspired by his first time in a gay club. The specific clubs which inspired this song were The Court in Perth, Australia and the Stonewall club in Sydney. Sivan has said this song is about "going to a gay club for the first time and feeling like a piece of meat."
6 Ease
This is another track off "Blue Neighborhood." When Sivan wrote this song, he was starting to launch his music career and often spending a lot of time away from his family. He felt a sense of conflict between the career path he wanted to pursue and his love for his family. Sivan poured his homesickness into this song.
"I had a goal in mind of what I wanted the song to make me feel and it 100 percent does that," Sivan said. "To me the song needed to sound like that warmth you feel when you’re family and when you’re home. It’s my favorite song I’ve ever written."
5 Heaven
Before Sivan came out to his family, he tested the waters to see how they might react. To get a better sense of their feelings on LGBTQ+ issues, Sivan had a talk with his dad about religion. He asked his father what he wished would change about their faith. His father responded by saying he wished certain people weren't homophobic. This was part of Sivan's inspiration for this song. It talks about how LGBTQ+ people are told they need to change their sexuality in order to get into Heaven. Sivan resolves that if he must change a part of himself, maybe Heaven isn't where he wants to be.
4 Seventeen
The opening track from Sivan's sophomore album, "Bloom," takes the listener on quite a journey. The song talks about a seventeen-year-old Sivan hooking up with an older man. This is a real-life experience which Sivan said inspired the song. Sivan has also said that there were different versions of the song and many of them didn't work because Sivan wanted the message to come across the right way.
Sivan told Attitude magazine, "Originally the chorus of the song was ‘Here he comes / like he just walked out of a dream / doesn’t care that you’re 17’. And I was like ‘uh, that sounds a bit predatory’, and maybe it was a little bit. That’s what I mean, it’s like, I’m not looking back at those experiences in a negative or a positive light."
3 The Good Side
On the "Blue Neighborhood" album, Sivan details the derailing of a relationship through the album's songs. It was about his real-life relationship that was in the process of ending. When he went on tour, Sivan said that he was able to turn his sadness about the breakup into a cathartic outlet by performing the songs. He also met another man and entered a new relationship. Sivan wrote this song about feeling like he got the good side of the breakup. He expresses empathy towards his ex and the struggles he saw him going through during the breakup. Sivan has also expressed guilt for the way things unfolded in the aftermath of the breakup.
2 Could Cry Just Thinkin' About You
Sivan happily sang about his relationship on the "Bloom" album. By the time 2020 hit, however, things were changing. Sivan's next release was the "In a Dream" EP, which contained lots of songs about a breakup. Through various interviews Sivan gave to promote the release, it was clear the relationship he celebrated on his last album was now over. This song was initially released as an interlude of sorts, clocking in at under a minute. However, Sivan later released a full version of the song a year later to streaming platforms. Sivan said that he wrote this song crying in his kitchen as his life started to fall apart.
1 Stud
As an openly gay artist, Sivan has spoken about his sexuality often through his music. This was expressed in more subtle ways on his debut, but he was very direct on "Bloom." With his "In a Dream" EP, Sivan took it a step further and wrote about an issue many gay men can relate to. That issue being body image struggles and how it factors into finding a partner. This song expresses a conflicted view of the situation, as Sivan isn't sure if he wants to be with a stud or be one himself. This song isn't merely another club record about desire and attraction, but a commentary on one's own insecurities.
