By Mike Sain't Louis ·
Gaslighting: thanks, but no, and let your gas burn
«Me dices, baby, no pasó.» ("You tell me, baby, it didn't happen."). That's how it starts, with the phrase anyone who has been manipulated has heard at some point. That you dreamt it. That you're exaggerating. That it was all your fault.
Gaslighting puts a name to that twisted technique of making you doubt your own memory, and answers it from the least expected place: the dance floor. Instead of arguing, the song's narrator stands in front of the mirror and says here I am. They know what they saw and what they felt, and they're not going to negotiate it.
The wordplay with gas seems brilliant to me. Let your gas burn. What was used to put you out is now fuel. And the lights dancing on the skin, the neon covering the body, it all works like shining armour.
The heel as a scream
There's an image I really like: every step on a heel is a scream against the other person's prison. Walking in heels as an act of rebellion is very much ours, very much in the drag and travesti tradition, and here it fits perfectly.
The chorus has a crushing politeness. Thanks, but no. As simple as that, like someone turning down a sweet they know is poisoned. And then it finishes with a line that is already a signature: «I won, maricón». Winning, and saying so with the word that for years was used as an insult. I can't think of a better ending.
In the bridge it gets serious, with that series of orders in Spanglish: don't you dare say it didn't happen, don't you dare silence me. It's the moment when the one who suffered takes command.
If you're coming out of a relationship where you were made to feel crazy, this song is for you. Play it loud, look at yourself in the mirror and repeat the chorus until you believe it.
It has a sister: No Contact. This one is the battle; that one, the peace afterwards.
The full lyrics are further down. Listen on Spotify
Lyrics · Gaslighting
Me dices baby no pasóQue lo soñé, que todo fui yoPero sorry, yo sé bienLo que vi, lo que sentí también
Las luces bailan sobre mi pielHoy me siento más strong than ayerTu mentira no me va a callarHoy mi voz la pista va a quemar
En el espejo digo here I amYa no me apagas, no soy tu blameQue arda tu gas, yo soy la queenQue brilla fuerte sobre el beat
Gaslighting, gaslighting,Gracias pero noGaslighting, gaslighting,I am free nowGaslighting, gaslighting, game is doneGaslighting, gaslighting, I won maricón
Me dices you’re too much to lovePero yo no soy quien se escondióCada paso sobre este tacónEs mi grito contra tu prisión
Las cadenas quedan atrásTu teatro ya no puede másEl neón me cubre, soy inmortalMi verdad ya nadie la puede negar
En el espejo digo here I amYa no me apagas, no soy tu blameQue arda tu gas, yo soy la queenQue brilla fuerte sobre el beat
Gaslighting, gaslighting,Gracias pero noGaslighting, gaslighting,I am free nowGaslighting, gaslighting, game is doneGaslighting, gaslighting, I won maricón
Don’t you dare decir que noDon’t you dare negar lo que pasóDon’t you dare tapar mi vozGaslighting here is over — I’m the boss
Gaslighting, gaslighting,Gracias pero noGaslighting, gaslighting,I am free nowGaslighting, gaslighting, game is doneGaslighting, gaslighting, I won maricón
I won maricónI won maricón
I won maricón
Lyrics as published with the official music video, on the MIKE SAIN'T LOUIS label.