Same Love

The song "Same Love" was written by Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert, and performed by the Artist Macklemore. Macklemore is a more mainstream Hip-Hop artist who is known for creating music that calls attention to social issues though he is a white male , his success is founded on creating music that minority groups can relate to. In "Same Love" Macklemore is touching on a few key issues in society while the general theme of his work is "equality for homosexuals" and what "love means. At the time this song was realized, those who identify as homosexual or belong to the LGBT community faced prejudice and oppression. In 2012 some states same -sex partnership cannot get married. Macklemore's "Same Love" is speaking to those aware of this problem. "Same Love" begins with Macklemore telling the story of a young man (himself) in questioning of his sexual identity based on stereotypes of homosexual males. Macklemore say "(Be)Cause I could draw, my uncle was (Gay), and I kept his room straight." This beginning to the song is a powerful attention getter. As males in society today, we are constantly being questioned of our masculinity and by the connotations of "homosexual" meaning "feminine". This not only grabs the audience's attention but leads into how relatable this song is. The reliability of this piece can be seen throughout: the questions of sexuality and the comforting of his (Macklemore) mother, the hate in Youtube comments, and the oppressive view of the conservation church. All of the imagery illustrates how big the problem is for those the LGBT community.
While making this piece relatable, "same Love" cries with it a call to action for it's audience. The references to the civil rights movement provoke a strong emotional reaction to those who are familiar with the Civil Rights Movement. "It's human rights for everyone, there is no difference!", "No freedom 'til we're  equal, damn right I support it", and "progress, march on"are all examples of signifiers of the civil rights movement.
Lastly "Same Love" is calling society's ideas of love into question. Macklemore's argument here is Christianity, or rather the Conservation Church, has forgotten the bible teaching "God loves all his children" and instead has started "paraphrasing a book written thirty-five hundred years ago." Macklemore is calling into question our society's ideas of love and then proceeds to define love subtly in the song's hook, and more in the ending of the song ("Love is kind"). "Same love" repeatedly states our sexuality is a predisposition, not a choice, and real love does not judge. ("Love is patient.")

"Same Love" is filled with constant metaphors about the songs main themes. Every few lines is making a point while reading like someone is singing it. The way it is written makes the piece more memorable and thus more powerful. Unfortunately Macklemore may be "preaching to the choir" since he is already known for writing these kinds of songs and it is not probable that someone in the conservative church will be listening to this. Still, the song "Same Love" is written eloquently and is still carrying a powerful message.