Conan Gray’s debut album “Kid Krow” had its five year anniversary on March 20, 2025. Many would know this album by hits like “Heather” and “The Cut That Always Bleeds”.
Gray had dropped the deluxe version of “Kid Krow” called “Kid Krow: Decomposed” on the anniversary of the original album and shocked everyone.
“Kid Krow: Decomposed” consists of the live versions of “The Cut That Always Bleeds” and “Heather” (which is rumored to have been from my show in Inglewood) from his latest tour as well as “Bed Rest”, which was previously unreleased.
The order of the songs on “Kid Krow: Decomposed” is different from the original, as opposed to having the bonus tracks at the end of the album. Fans are still confused about the reasoning behind this.
I’m the type of person that gets annoyed by the live versions of songs, but these ones were lovely, especially since “Heather” contained the lost verse, which Gray had only played live and didn’t release a studio version.
I was beyond ecstatic to finally have that version on Spotify instead of in my camera roll. Unfortunately, the lyrics are not available on Spotify a month later.
My first listen of “Bed Rest” had me in shambles. It is possibly the most beautiful song I have ever heard and is fighting for my first place ranking on Conan Gray’s discography, but it’s hard to top my love for “Memories”, especially after hearing it live.
The album had dropped on a Thursday, but despite this, I had listened to it 60 times that week, according to my Airbuds Weekly Recap. This is the second most times I have listened to a song for my Airbuds Weekly Recap.
I was so enamored by the song, that for the first time, I had written six pages in my notes app about my thoughts on the song. I have never had this much to say about a song.
Many fans have pointed out that “Bed Rest” and Gray’s most recent single “Holidays” are similar thematically and sonically. I wasn’t a huge fan of “Holidays”, but if “Bed Rest” came out on Gray’s next album along with “Holidays”, it would make sense.
I have compared Conan Gray to My Chemical Romance (MCR) before, as when “Alley Rose” came out, I had woken up with it stuck in my head, but in Gerard Way’s voice instead of Gray’s. “Bed Rest” only furthered my comparison to MCR.
The song is eerie, but ethereal. It’s hauntingly beautiful. Because of this, I instantly picked up on the resemblance to a majority of MCR’s “The Black Parade” album, most notably “Cancer”, “I Don’t Love You”, “Disenchanted”, and “The End.”.
Continuing with the theme of rock/metal bands, the part of “Bed Rest” where Gray says “and although I’m crazy, maybe just this time” reminds me of Avenged Sevenfold’s “I know I might sound crazy, but I’ve smelled the plastic daisies” from “Mattel” because of the vocal melody and in part of how they both mention being crazy.
Going deeper into the niche rock/metal overlaps, “Bed Rest” reminds me of Palaye Royale’s “Fever Dream” and “Oblivion”. A majority of the “Fever Dream” album has a similar vibe, but obviously “Bed Rest” is a slow pop song.
The most obvious inspiration for “Bed Rest” is Queen. The background vocals, the “ooooooo”s, and instrumentals radiate “You Take My Breath Away” and “All Dead, All Dead”.
Of course, many of Gray’s songs sound like Queen songs, but this is the most apparent resemblance and my first thoughts.
Thematically, “Bed Rest” reminds me of many of Taylor Swift’s “anxiety songs”, such as “mirrorball”, “The Archer”, and “this is me trying”. Sonically, it reminds me of something from “folklore” or “The Tortured Poets Department”. It makes sense that their fan bases overlap.
Words can hardly begin to express how much I love “Bed Rest” and how beautiful it is. It is quite possibly the most beautiful and ethereal song I have ever heard.