With “Better This Way,” out singer-songwriter Doug Strahm does a solid for all the bears who feel underrepresented in music videos. Strahm plays a semi-closeted construction worker trying to reconcile his love for his equally-beefy boyfriend (played by Chris Miklos) with the expectations of his coworkers and friends.
h/t: HuffPoGayVoices
truckproductions
LOL oh my god this has to be the worst video/song ever recorded.. WTF guys?? Quit trying so hard to make yourself “butch”.. and the song.. just awful.. what a joke
avesraggiana
Bears in bed together looked better in my mind than on a music video.
Steve318
OMG the first two comments are so bigoted.
Dxley
Gross
Grrrowler
I think they were going for hot, but it’s not hot. I swear at 2:38 it looks like the guy singing is sticking something through the fence.
truckproductions
@Steve318: bigoted?? give me a break.. this video/song makes Rebecca Black’s “Friday” sound like a best single nominee..
MikeE
I don’t mind the guys. not my type, but they’re not unattractive.
The video is amateurish, however.
And the song – while I generally don’t mind a bit of country-pop or country-rock – is not particularly good.
The LYRICS of the song are a crime against humanity. They are some of the most trite and insignificant lyrics I’ve ever heard, and that includes “ooooooooooooooo I love to love you baby…. ooooooooooo”.
I was cringing at the “story telling” in the song. Much like in movies, good lyrics “show, don’t tell”. There’s absolutely no poetry to them, no rhythm, they are as prosaic as they come.
It’s a shame, I always keep hoping for decent LGBT performers. This isn’t one of them.
stanhope
Well I’ld give them A for the attempt. The intention seems a good one. That said, the video really isn’t that good. The lyrics are pretty bubble gum and the chemistry between the 2 guys especially when they kiss is tepid at best. I wish them well and hope the next one is better.
HirsuteOne
“I never met anybody who said when they were a kid, I wanna grow up and be a critic.”
~Richard Pryor
Steve318
Everyone’s a critic. You don’t have to watch it, you don’t have to buy it. But egads, if straight guys were writing these posts (and maybe some are), and the video was about two handsome Adonises making out, there would be an outcry of homophobia. But because the posts are from gay guys about other gay guys it’s OK. Give me a break indeed.
MikeE
@Steve318: actually, most of the posts criticizing are about the poor quality video, and the very poor quality song/lyrics.
Fitz
It’s not homophobic or body phobic to acknowledge that this is kind of.. “not there yet”.
Lyrics like “I’m a manly man, I drive a truck”.. come on. This thing seems like a really lovely home project from one man to another– but not for public consumption. The singer’s voice is actually pretty decent.
That being said, it’s nice to see some gay music that isn’t either Cher airbrushed or a twink doing a pole dance. I like bears, and muscle bears, and people over 20. I just wish the lyrics were more grown up.
Steve318
All right I’ll give you guys the poor quality video/lyrics criticism, But I still say it is a noble effort, and one that should be celebrated, not censored. The video is not disgusting, or outright offensive. It shows two adorable guys hugging and kissing. This image needs to be put forward more often, so the public can get use to it, and it helps the increasingly shrinking homophobic segment of our population shrink even more.
mpwaite
Chris is very good friend of mine, and the sweetest guy you would ever want to know. This video is just so sweet and honest. As as for the quality of the video, video production time is expensive, not to mention the rental of equipment. And in case you’ve been living under a rock, not many production or label companies are chomping at the bit to produce a gay video let alone market a gay singer/song writer. SO… unless you want to pay for the production?? THEN SHUT UP!
Steve318
Thank you @mpwaite. I concur.