“Same Love,” Macklemore Analyzation
In Macklemore’s song, “Same Love,” he uses specific examples about equality towards the LGBT community to advocate homosexuality. He does this to change the way that todays’ society looks at homosexuality and same sex marriage. In this essay I argue that Macklemore is supporting same sex marriage and homosexuality by explaining gay rights and the way that it is viewed within the hip-hop industry, and the community itself.
Macklemore starts off his song with “When I was in the 3rd grade I thought that I was gay 'cause I could draw, My uncle was and I kept my room straight. ” (Macklemore, 2013) This verse hits the point of what the community would think of as gay. Today, many people believe that having certain characteristics makes a person gay. For example, a guy that has the skill of doing woman’s hair. So many people in todays’ world will say “that’s gay. ”
In this case, because he had the talent of being artistic, he thought of himself as a homosexual. He thought this because having the talent of being able to draw is more feminine than masculine, like playing a sport. This goes to say that a characteristic cannot paint the picture of someone’s sex. Macklemore shows a great example of this in his music video during the moment when they were playing football. Football is considered a man’s sport, but a young guy who’s considered to be homosexual is shown in the video playing football. That shows that a characteristic or action cannot be perceived as a gay thing or a straight thing; therefore, this is how Macklemore makes the community reconsider the way we think about certain activities and the way that they can be applied to a person.
He then says, “The right-wing conservatives think it's a decision and you can be cured with some treatment and religion” here he touches on how some religions and conservatives believe that homosexuality is a decision; whereas, others might believe that it is biological, and one is born that way. The line following the previous one says, “Man-made, rewiring of a pre-disposition playing God, 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 3500 years ago. ” Here Macklemore is explaining how homosexuality in his opinion is biological and trying to “rewire” the world would kind of be like trying to act as God. “God loves all his children” is preached in the bible; however, it is said that being in a same sex relationship is considered a sin. That is why he says that the saying is somehow forgotten because if “God loves all his children” and excepts everyone for who they are then same sex marriage and homosexuality wouldn’t be considered a sin. The hook by Mary Lambert, relates to how homosexuality is not a choice and it is biological, meaning that it cannot be changed. “And I can’t change even if I tried, Even if I wanted to, My love she keeps me warm. ” Here she speaks on the fact that love is love, no matter who gives it, or who receives it. Lambert is addressing the song title in this line, suggesting that all love is the same.
The following verses and lines discuss the position of homosexuality in the hip-hop industry. “If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me,” today, many rappers in the industry uses the derogatory terms “fag, gay etc. ” in their lyrics. They use these terms to refer to people who are below them. The terms are not used directly toward homosexuals, but to people who they stay away from and basically single out. The next few lines: “Have you read the YouTube comments lately? “Man, that’s gay” gets dropped on the daily, we’ve become so numb to what we’re sayin”, here he is addressing how many people are using the term “gay” without even thinking about it, just throwing it out there left and right. Even though the term may not be used as an insult to homosexuality, people still use them the same as they would if it were insulting. “A word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores it, “gay” is synonymous with the lesser,” gays seem to have been targeted for a while, much like minorities and weirdos to those who aren’t familiar with or understand it. The hip-hop industry is said to understand homosexuality as being less masculine and having more feminine tendencies.
The next few lines discuss the equality of the LGBT community and their rights. “It’s the same hate that 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, Its human rights for everybody, there’s no difference. ” In religious battles, the leaders’ buildup hatred of others so that way they can build up a support system to get people on their side, and those who do not agree become the enemy and have less support. The comparison of the gender to skin color is mentioned because he wants to compare how the struggles of civil rights and their success can be applied to what the homosexual community is going through. In this line: “I might not be the same, but that’s not important, No freedom ‘til we’re equal, damn right I support it” here Macklemore is dating back to slavery, and women’s rights’. He uses this example to compare how homosexuals are mistreated, and if you’re heterosexual you could still support the movement of equal rights for everyone.
Nowadays, people seems to accept and support the LGBT community, however, they are still being given the cold-shoulder. With that being said, many of us who seem to accept this movement still use the derogatory terms like gay, faggot, queer, etc. Within this song, Same Love by Macklemore, he explains how the hip-hop industry and people all over the world seems to be blindfolded by the misusage of those derogatory terms. In addition, he does this to make a change to the way that the community views homosexuals. Therefore, the terms shouldn’t be abused anymore. Macklemore leads the pack with this song, he shows how easily it can be done. Things will not change unless someone puts forth the energy to change it, this song gives a deeper meaning on a relevant situation that occurs in today’s society on a daily bases.
