I’m the Only One

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR NATIONAL ANTHEM.

There is something iconic about the G - C - D chord progression. If you don’t know music, it makes for the easy-to-imitate structure behind classics like “Brown Eyed Girl” (1967), “Wish You Were Here” (1975), “You Shook Me All Night Long” (1980), and Good Riddance (Time of Your Life")” (1997). Another member of the G-C-D family. “Come Through My Window” by Melissa Etheridge, was a strong contender for this week. I settled on its bluesy companion song after seeing it featured in a transformative indie film on Hulu.

“I’m the Only One” was a superb choice for the drag performance in National Anthem because it relays both yearning and acceptance. It is a song about deep devotion to a lover despite her pursuit of another and the righteous anger that colors that experience (“But I’m the only one / Who’ll walk across the fire for you”). Onscreen we see this anger in its nascent form—passion. This is the moment Dylan comes into his own, while expressing the aching he feels for Sky. (Sky is a trans woman in an open-ish relationship with the head rancher, Pepe. The ranch at first provides a construction work opportunity for Dylan, but he quickly learns it is a haven for queer outlaws with and without rodeo talent.) Having nervously sampled blue eyeshadow earlier in the film, this version of Dylan is confidence and raw desire in a red lipstick and matching sequin dress. We see him be fully embraced by the other drag queens backstage and his new chosen family in the audience.

Dylan’s earnest performance foreshadows a scene later on, in which he realizes the cost of continued life on the ranch—a heart in purgatory. The freedom and beloning he experienced here is real, but it leaves him adjacent to a woman who will never fully choose him.