Luke-Michael, Closet Door | Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈

In the 12th edition of Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 (2025), we highlight the song, “Closet Door” performed by Luke-Michael. 

[otw_shortcode_dropcap label=”P” size=”large” border_color_class=”otw-no-border-color” shadow=”shadow” square=”square”]repare to beam with P-R-I-D-E 🏳️‍🌈! Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 celebrates, embraces, and spotlights songs by LGBTQ musicians or allies.  Here, we provide background and insight into musician(s) and analyze + go gaga over the decadent bops served up.  When the music dictates deeper, more transcendent discussion, we ensure the point is fully articulated.  All styles of music are welcome while the songs can be classics or brand-spanking new. So, without further ado, in the 12^th edition of Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 (2025), we highlight “Closet Door” performed by Luke-Michael.[/otw_shortcode_dropcap]

“Put my ass in therapy / Feel good for an hour twice a week / A will for living don’t come cheap / And I know it’s not my fault, but I blame me.”  We all have some internal issues to work through.  And many of us wouldn’t be as brave to share them as Ohio singer/songwriter Luke-Michael (Luke Michael Baker). He delivers an authentic, beautiful, and vulnerable ballad with “Closet Door” released in July 2024.  In “Closet Door,” he reflects on his emotional lows and mental health.  He seeks therapy and fights for life rather than wallow in darkness.  He admits he’d rather blame himself than confront the pain and trauma.  But, to move forward, you’ve got to work through difficult and uncomfortable things.

The chorus shines a light on the things that Luke-Michael works through.  Tuneful and transparent, it is inspiring and moving.

“Cause it’s easier than

Digging through the closet

Chasing skeletons and monsters

Making peace with God above and

Being honest with my father

Finding silver in the lining

Of abuse I felt in hiding

Choosing to forgive myself for

All the time I keep on buying

To avoid what’s behind the closet door.”

It’s heavy – really heavy.  But Luke-Michael preaches prudence to everyone who needs to hear it.  The only way to unbound yourself is to work through it to get to a healthier place.  In the second verse, he wishes he’d have addressed “everything under my mask” sooner because he still feels so many effects from the build-up and hiding.  Beyond a dope vocal performance – he ‘eats this up’ from start to finish – and tremendous songwriting, “Closet Door” is superbly produced (Laurel Taylor). It begins as a piano ballad but evolves into something grander, particularly with the strings and when the drums provide an anchor, amplifying Baker’s honest emotions. As a person who has masked so much, and still does, well into adulthood, this song is therapeutic for me.  It makes me want to feel better, be happier, and live life to the fullest.

Luke-Michael // “Closet Door” // Luke-Michael Music // 2024

Luke-Michael, Closet Door: Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 No. 12 (2025) [📷: Brent Faulkner/ The Musical Hype; Luke-Michael Music; Elias Souza, Mario Spencer, Mizuno K from Pexels;  All_CC0_Public_domain, CatsWithGlasses, David, ernestflowerss, Kelly, M. Harris, Marek Studzinski, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]