Zach Palmer & Rich, Nothing’s Embarrassing | Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈

In the 17^th edition of Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 (2024), we highlight the song, “Nothing’s Embarrassing” performed by Zach Palmer & Rich.

Prepare to beam with P-R-I-D-E 🏳️‍🌈! Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 celebrates, embraces, and spotlights songs by LGBTQ musicians or allies.  In this column, we provide background and insight into the respective musician(s), as well as analyze + go gaga over the decadent bops being served up.  Furthermore, when the music dictates deeper, more transcendent discussion, we ensure the point is articulated to the fullest.  All styles of music are welcome while the songs can be classics or brand-spanking new. So, without further ado, in the 17th edition of Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 (2024), we highlight “Nothing’s Embarrassing” performed by Zach Palmer and Rich. 

“When you’re getting married to a lucky woman / I’ll never be your woman.” Facts, but the truth can do a serious number on you – mess you TF up.  In this case, reality has set in for Zach Palmer, who is a sad boy 😢. Palmer previously showcased his sadness on “Ethan” at the tail end of 2023 (“I watch porn and politics to get you out my head”). In February 2024, he showcased more melancholia in “Nothing’s Embarrassing”.  This go-round, he collaborates with Rich, who is – you guessed it – also sad 😢.  Just examining the excerpted lyrics from this beautiful, slow ballad, it’s understandable why Zach and Rich’s spirits are so low.  The boy is NOT theirs, and neither of them will be the woman that he ultimately is engaged to. Sexuality is such a complex thing.

Both poetically express their emotions, which makes “Nothing’s Embarrassing” agonizingly radiant. Zach has “grown too bored hung up without a winter coat / Eternally teenage cosplaying as adult.” Rich, in the second verse, asks himself, “How many lies can I tell myself to get off to / Imagining the moment you realize / You were too afraid to kiss my lips this whole time.” That’s devastating.  It speaks to fear and, of course, internalized homophobia.  Zach and Rich resolve nothing, unfortunately, but with their high, sensitive, and un-embarrassed open hearts, they marvelously express their hurt. “Nothing’s Embarrassing” is the definition of sad-boy music, but the authenticity, and the relatable scenario, speak volumes.

Zach Palmer & Rich // “Nothing’s Embarrassing” // Zach Palmer // 2024

Zach Palmer & Rich, Nothing’s Embarrassing: Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 No. 17 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner/ The Musical Hype; Zach Palmer; Elias Souza, Los Muertos Crew from Pexels; CatsWithGlasses, Maicon Fonseca Zanco, Square Frog, Sudo from Pixabay]