While his “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)†music video found Lil Nas X in a devilish “fuck it, I’m going to grind on Satan†frame of mind, his new visual for “Sun Goes Down†features the rapper as his own guardian angel, guiding his high-school self safely past suicidal thoughts, loneliness, and self-loathing about his sexuality. “These gay thoughts would always haunt me / I prayed God would take it from me,†he sings. “It’s hard for you when you’re fightin’ / And nobody knows it when you’re silent.â€
Luckily, Lil Nas X’s future self offers a beacon of hope to his bleach-blond teen doppelgänger when he goes alone to prom. “I know that you want to cry / But there’s much more to life than dying,†Nas reminds himself. In the end, young Montero finds faith in Nicki Minaj (“Stanning Nicki mornin’ into dawn / Only place I felt like I belongedâ€) and his musical ability. “I’m happy by the way / That I made that jump, that leap of faith,†he sings. “I’m happy that it all worked out for me / Imma make my fans so proud of me.†If everyone has an angel and a devil on their shoulders, we could all do a lot worse than Lil Nas X.