Super Cassette, Be Gay, Do Drugs, Hail Satan | Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈

In the 55th edition of Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 (2025), we highlight “Be Gay, Do Drugs, Hail Satan” performed by indie-rock band Super Cassette. 

Prepare 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 musicians, analyze, plus go gaga over the decadent bops served up.  When songs dictate deeper and more transcendent discussion, we ensure the point is fully articulated.  All styles of music are welcome, whether the songs are classics or brand-new. So, without further ado, in the 55^th edition of Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 (2025), we highlight “Be Gay, Do Drugs, Hail Satan” performed by Super Cassette.

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“I showed up to school with my soul in my pocket / The teacher was wearing a cross and a locket / And a grimace that told me I’d never be welcome / That Dungeons and Dragons would send me to hell.” Oh, snap! Feeling out of place, particularly when you know you are different, can feel like hell.  Furthermore, those who sniff out those differences are ready to damn you to hell, particularly if you also identify as queer. But, Oakland indie-rock/power-pop act Super Cassette, fronted by Max Gerlach, has found the recipe for happiness in “Be Gay, Do Drugs, Hail Satan”.  The chorus of this sub-three-minute, 2020 bop says it best:

“Be gay

Do drugs

Hail Satan

Be gay

Do drugs

Hail Satan.”

Some variations of the catchy and infectious chorus add that “Beelzebub is full of love.” Now that’s a reverse if I ever heard one!

Musically, “Be Gay, Do Drugs, Hail Satan” is a surefire vibe.  The guitars sound sweet, while the keys provide colorful touches. Particularly, the detuned synth that appears at the end is genius. “Be Gay” also features a fabulous harmonic progression with enough contrast to keep things engaging.  The vocal performance is rock solid. They’re chill and easygoing but potent to the nth degree. The melodies are tuneful from the get-go, while the songwriting is sensational. In the epic second verse, when asked by the principal how he turned things around academically, Gerlach’s response is:

“I told him that I found God in my own way

In tablets, and horns, and the boys in the hallway

The head of the class, and I’m writing a speech

It’ll be the best one that you ever did read and it’s

Six simple words.”

You already know what those words are (“Be Gay, Do Drugs, Hail Satan”). The bridge is a welcome contrast.  Speaking from his future self, as a 95-year-old grandfather advising his grandson, he gives the same advice he received from some kid in the bathroom and relayed in his speech.  Sure, co-signing drug use and embracing Satan are questionable 😬, but being gay 🌈– being true to who you are – is spot on. “Be Gay, Do Drugs, Hail Satan” kicks ass and takes names, PERIOD!