I have to admit that I am behind the times on this. I had heard about this song (which will be the poem for today), but I had not heard it. I could have easily listened to it on YouTube, but I hadn't taken the time. On my way home Friday night, I felt like my local Top 40 station was having a gay night. It started with this song, several commercials for the local gay club (or alternative nightspot, as they called it), and then numerous songs about being yourself. It was actually a lot of great music. It was also a bit surreal considering that they kept updating the Friday night football scores as well. Though I am not a fan of rap music in the least, I have to admit that the words to Macklemore's "Same Love" are quite poetic and meaningful. Besides isn't tap supposed to be urban poetry?
"Same Love" is the fourth single released by Seattle-based rapper Macklemore and producer Ryan Lewis from their 2012 debut studio album, The Heist. The track, featuring vocals by Mary Lambert, talks about legalizing same-sex marriage and was recorded during the campaign for Washington Referendum 74, which, upon approval in 2012, legalized same-sex marriages in Washington state. The song has so far reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and reached number 1 in both New Zealand and Australia.
The cover artwork for the single shows a photograph of Macklemore's uncle, John Haggerty, and his partner, Sean.
The song was featured as a part of YouTube's Pride Week (http://youtu.be/OQngzapK5dM).
"Same Love"
Macklemore with Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert
By Ben Haggerty (Macklemore), Ryan Lewis, Mary Lambert, Curtis Mayfield
When I was in the third grade I thought that I was gay,
'Cause I could draw, my uncle was, and I kept my room straight.
I told my mom, tears rushing down my face
She's like "Ben you've loved girls since before pre-k, trippin' "
Yeah, I guess she had a point, didn't she?
Bunch of stereotypes all in my head.
I remember doing the math like, "Yeah, I'm good at little league"
A preconceived idea of what it all meant
For those that liked the same sex
Had the characteristics
The right wing conservatives think it's a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made rewiring of a predisposition
Playing God, aw nah here we go
America the brave still fears what we don't know
And God loves all his children, is somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago
I don't know
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately?
"Man, that's gay" gets dropped on the daily
We become so numb to what we're saying
A culture founded from oppression
Yet we don't have acceptance for 'em
Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board
A word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser
It's the same hate that's caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins
It's human rights for everybody, there is no difference!
Live on and be yourself
When I was at church they taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service those words aren't anointed
That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned
When everyone else is more comfortable remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans that have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same, but that's not important
No freedom till we're equal, damn right I support it
(I don't know)
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
We press play, don't press pause
Progress, march on
With the veil over our eyes
We turn our back on the cause
Till the day that my uncles can be united by law
When kids are walking 'round the hallway plagued by pain in their heart
A world so hateful some would rather die than be who they are
And a certificate on paper isn't gonna solve it all
But it's a damn good place to start
No law is gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever God you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it's all the same love
About time that we raised up... sex
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love
My love
My love
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
She keeps me warm
Love is patient
Love is kind
Love is patient
Love is kind
(not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
(not crying on Sundays)
Love is kind
(I'm not crying on Sundays)
Love is patient
Love is kind
PS I hope you will all wish me luck today as I go to court to fight a speeding ticket. My cruise control was set at 65 mph, but the state trooper said he clocked me going 85 mph. Cars were passing me left and right, including a similar model to my car that was the same color. If I had been speeding, I'd just pay it, but I wasn't, so I'm going to court.
6 comments:
Good Luck! In DC if you fight you almost always win bc they make the officers come to court on their days off - if they don't show then you win when you do.
In Alabama they schedule or reschedule your court date around when the officer can appear.
Good luck, safe driver...Tell the judge just like you wrote it here...hope it is a good outcome for you
Hey there. I had not heard this song either. I had heard of it but not listened to it. I flipped over to you tube and took a listen. My 16 year old son told me that it was worth taking a listen. I loved the message in the song, it brought a tear to my eyes. I hope everything went all right with your court date. LOVE AND HUGS
Too late, but reschedule two or three times and he'll be absent. Good luck on the "mistaken identity" defense. That's a tough one to win.
I tear up every time I hear (and now read) this song. I have to turn it down at work (I stream an alternative station from Minneapolis) so I can continue to work.
Reading it does the same thing.
Interesting fact: I'd never seen the cover art. I cried again.
Peace <3
Jay
God, Joe, this song just came up on my playlist...with Sara and Tegan...tears again...
Jay
Post a Comment