Tim, I wish you were born a girl

Little video made to the song Tim, I wish you were born a girl, by Of Montreal.
I've, for years, wanted to make an animation to a song by Of Montreal :)
Of course I had to choose this song, it's definitely the one I most wanted to animate!

Poor narrator, he doesn't have a name, but poor poor narrator...
(EDIT: Narrator has a name! Decided to call him Eddie. Thought it would suit him.)

I didn't intend to take the meaning of the song so literally, but I think that's the best way I could portray it through animation, interpret it as you will :)
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Song: As already stated....
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My Instagram and twitter :D

[byletheisner]

i like how tim doesn't change into a girl in eddie's imagination, he stays the exact same. i think it shows how he subconsciously doesn't want him to change, he just wishes he was a girl so it was acceptable

[atoucangirl]

a great representation of how discrimination isn't just people shoving you into the closet with pitchforks, it's also them convincing you that the closet is your room

[onnelaitetrisku]

It's really emotional for me because I remember as a kid thinking "wow Lisa is so beautiful, if I were a man I would have asked her out" and this song just felt really close to home. Great job

[tuttletuttlewood]

I love that in all the art, even though the lyrics say "I wish you were born a girl, " Tim is drawn as a boy, implying that what the singer really wants is not for Tim to be any different, but for their relationship to be different.

[javiereskuela]

I had a Tim once. God It’s been about four years now since I really hung out with him. During the Covid lockdown I ended up moving away from a lot of my friends to a new town and because of the lockdown I wasn’t really able to see them much. But one of my friends got his license right before the lockdown went into full effect so some days he would drive over and me and him would go to the trails in the woods by my new house and just goof off and talk a lot. After a few months it got more “intimate”, we would often lay by a small stream or under a tree in an open field and cuddle with eachother while listening to music. Although we never really admitted that we had feelings for each other it was nice. The area we live in doesn’t have the most accepting people anyway so we weren’t gonna be open about it. But after the lockdown ended we kinda just drifted apart and stopped talking. We‘ll see each other every now and again when we’re at a party or something but we never talk about anything we did. We both have girlfriends now, but I admit I’ll think about our time together every now and again and it makes me happy. It’s bittersweet.

[caoimhedoesstuff]

I’m a girl and I’ve never gotten over my ‘tim’. We went to a catholic all girls school together, she joined later because her family moved around a lot and when I saw her it was like my heart stopped. She was the prettiest person I had ever seen, and when she held my hand I felt safe and at home. She kissed me once when we were skipping class and hiding out in the changing rooms.

She said sorry after she kissed me. Said she didn’t know what came over herself and she left.
I’ll always regret not going after her and saying that she didn’t need to be sorry, and that I had never felt the way I did now before.

She moved to England a week later without telling me or even saying goodbye, but I wonder if the kiss was her way of saying goodbye.

[meatsuit]

"just a touch of oregano"
>absolutely fucks it full of oregano

[veezbeez]

I hope Tim and Eddie get to live happily ever after.

[hazel]

the fact that tim and eddie are made out of wiggly lines that move around a lot is great visual storytelling. it really represents how not straight they are

[eyedecker]

i watch this video like once a month you dont even know how much this video means to me. i love this song so much so finding this video made me love it even more

[helloeveryone]

This video recommends me. And I realised I also had a person who as same as Tim. He is a handsome boy and have a deep voice. There once, I sent a message to him by saying 'take care' and he said to me that I treated him like a girlfriend. Many days later he confessed me that he loves me. Then, we always do our love stuff, like when I hugged him and then he blushed, I kissed him and later he kissed me back, also we both dating and had a dinner, face-to-face, laughing at him how silly he eat. Then, after like 7 months later, he told me that he want to be friend with me, not a lover. After that incident, I'm getting farther away from him, because it's awkward to talk to him. Even worse, me and him are classmates. I hate it if someone pairs me and him in every group project. And now what? Today is his birthday as I write this comment. Why YouTube's recommendation always related to my life? Why? Why?

[eternalmiasma]

I always looked at this song as a gay child who doesn’t know that being gay is a thing and this is their first experience with falling in love and not knowing that they could date the same gender

[bat_socks]

This reminds me of when I was 9 and had no idea what being gay was, but I really fell for this girl and every night I’d cry to my mum wishing I were a boy so that she could be my girlfriend lol. My mum said she’d suspected it all along but wanted me to figure out who I am by myself :] ❤️

edit: hihihiiii thank you all for the very kind replies !!!! I just wanted to say the girl I mentioned in this comment and I are in a relationship now and are very happy together :) <33

[azraelllll]

My best friend was a sheltered guy who said he wished my friend was a girl so he could date him. We let him figure himself out naturally without trying to push him in any direction and he’s figured out he’s pan and is with that guy now lmao

[scoutstop]

me personally, i would date someone who makes me spaghetti with tomato sauce with just a touch of oregano and a parsley stem regardless of their gender

[shiny_cats]

The constantly shifting style of the animation makes this so homey and bittersweet. It feels like a little kid drew it. You captured the song’s feeling so well - I love this :)

[apelciniapelcinov]

I like how the lines are intentionally so wiggly. it perfectly communicates the feeling of grasping at an explanation for why it is the way it is and simply can’t be helped but every time you accidentally ask yourself “but why can’t it be helped?” your whole justification falls apart in your hands and you’re left scrambling for the pieces, jamming them back together in warped perspective just to make the picture whole and fine again. very cathartic to watch this and lose my mind along with eddie

[dontlookatme]

I had a tim once. When I was 10 i went to this weird Viking role play festival camp thing with my grandma and a few freinds we had a camp site and next to our camp site was another camp the camp next to us was two sisters and their grandparents one of the sisters was also 10 like me so obviously she became like my best friend for the next week we spent every moment together and i REALLY liked her but me being a Christian girl at the time I had no idea what being gay was I knew I liked her more than my other friends that were girls I just didn't know why or how I just remember thinking she was the coolest prettiest person I had ever seen. The day we left I remember the two of us just hugging and crying the whole time my grandma packed up our stuff when we finally left the girl said she hoped she would see me at next years festival I said I couldn't wait to see her to but sadly I never did see her again. It's been almost six years now and I still think about her and I have a feeling she might still think of me to. Her name was skyler and I promise if I ever see her again I'll tell her how I feel. I have a feeling one day we will meet again.

[Doveghost]

"Wish you were born a girl so i could've been your boyfriend" has the same vibes as "i wish i could be a girl and that way youd with i could be your girlfriend, boyfriend"

[jupp_iter]

God, isn't it nice to be someone's Tim.
My best friend one day came out to me, her being straight. I liked her too, so I accepted.

A month and a half later she cut me off by text message, saying she was disgusted to be with another woman, but loved me anyway.
A big part of the problem was her homophobic family, and even her thinking that way too. But there was nothing else that hurt me more than when she used to tell me verbatim, " Dammit, why couldn't you be born a boy?"

In short, it hit too close to home.