How can I not choose the song “Same Love”, I still tear up at this one.
A WARNING I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT SOME ASPECTS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MARRIAGE EQUALITY CAMPAIGN AND THE CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING THIS SONG BEING PERFORMED AT THE NRL GRAND FINAL. PLEASE DON’T READ IF THIS WILL BE TRIGGERING FOR YOU.
I have included these aspects as it’s part of the reason why I love this song so much. And yeas, I geared up ing this time, so I understand if this post isn’t for you.
This clip was at the NRL Grand Final in Australia 2017, during the stressful time when the citizens had a vote on Marriage Equality.
About the Song/It’s Meaning to Me:
I feel like the lyrics of this song are rather self-explanatory so I am going to focus on the atmosphere that the song was released in, and its used in Australia during the 2017 Marriage Equality campaign.
“Same Love” was released in 2012 and was recorded during the campaign for Washington Referendum 74 , which upon its approval legalised same-sex marriage in the state.
This song was also preferences by Macklemore and featured Mary Lambert with “She Keeps Me Warm” at the NRL Grand final in Sydney Australia during vote for Marriage Equality in 2017.
This song turned into an anthem for Marriage Equality here in Australia (I can’t speak for anywhere else), because it it feels so empowering and there’s a straightforward message of hope and progress.
Especially in the atmosphere of an approaching deadline to have our votes handed in for a non binding poll to be considered by parliament.
This was a stressful and uneasy time for a lot of people, I just finishing work and I had to pull over my car when I heard on the radio that this non binding vote was still going to take place in tears and calling my mum.
Having a song that so embodies what was happening and to channel my feelings through really helped and it made it look like hope was possible on the days when I filled with seeing hateful ad campaigns and cars driving around with massive signs reading “It’s okay to say no”. (A saying that is really hard for me to type).
In Australia there was actually a petition from the “No” campaign to ban Macklemore from performing because he was “politicising” the event. Which made this song feel like a bigger achievement and sign of hope when it still went ahead with its rainbow smoke glory and all.
About the Artists:
Macklemore is an American rapper born on the 19th of June 1983.
For Macklemore this song was important to him as he was inspired by his uncle and his uncle’s partner who are gay. He was afraid when he first played it to them as “it’s a very personal song, and I didn’t want to cross any boundaries in of their privacy”. Macklemore is straight himself, but it’s clear in his messaging and his love for his uncle how ing of the LGBT community he is.
Mary Lambert is an American singer and songwriter born on the 3rd of May 1989. Her contribution to the song “Same Love” drew on her experiences as “a lesbian growing up in a tumultuous, Christian Upbringing”.
She also used her content she created for “Same Love” to create the song “She Keeps Me Warm” which is based off her own personal experience.
Lambert stated that: “Macklemore’s lyrics offered an idiosyncratic perspective on homophobia in hip-hop and American society at large, criticizing both with a mixture of gentleness and firmness that I had not heard before. And most importantly, his of the gay community felt sincere”.
Though I will have to agree with the article I found where the author J. Bryan Lowder states that: “that sincerity seems to emanate in large part from the song’s poignant and hopeful chorus, sung beautifully by Seattle-based artist Mary Lambert (herself an out lesbian)”. Slate
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