Moment musician Macklemore took same-sex marriage mainstream
US rapper and NRL Grand Final performer Macklemore is no stranger to controversy. Watch how he, Madonna and Queen Latifah join forces to promote marriage equality by performing Same Love as 33 gay and straight couples marry on air.
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- MACKLEMORE NRL GRAND FINAL COUP KICKS OFF DEBATE AMONG PUNTERS
- SAME LOVE IS EXACTLY RIGHT FOR NRL GRAND FINAL
US rapper Macklemore is no stranger to controversy.
Before the furore over his plann ed performance at the NRL Grand Final this Sunday, he was once responsible for propelling marriage equality into the American mainstream.
At the 56th Grammy Awards in 2014, Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, and Ryan Lewis performed the marriage equality song Same Love as Queen Latifah officiated the weddings of more than 30 gay and straight couples as they married live on air.
“This song is not a love song for some of us, but for all of us,” said Latifah as she introduced the segment. Madonna joined the rappers on stage, along with Mary Lambert and jazz musician Trombone Shorty.
Same Love starts with the lyrics: “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; I told my mom, tears rushing down my face, she’s like; “Ben you’ve loved girls since before pre-K”
The gay rights anthem addresses the cultural divide on the issue of gay marriage and poignantly states, ‘A certificate on paper isn’t going to solve it all, but it’s a damn good place to start’.
Macklemore’s hit single Same Love, released in 2012, became an anthem for same sex marriage during the US debate over gay marriage and will be performed on Sunday with Mary Lambert during the NRL Grand Final, which will see Melbourne Storm take on the North Queensland Cowboys.
During an interview on US radio’s The Cruz Show, the rapper promised to continue to his fight for marriage equality, despite the controversy.
“I’m actually going out to Australia to perform at kind of the Super Bowl of their rugby league,” he said.
“And it’s interesting actually cause I’m gonna play Same Love and they’re going through trying to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia.
Macklemore will also perform other songs at ANZ Stadium including Downtown and recent single Glorious. They will be live Channel Nine from 6.30pm on Sunday.
He has attracted criticism for profane lyrics, including the phrase “Whattup! I got a big c…!,” and “Motherf…..” in another hit song Thrift Shop, but an NRL spokesman told the Daily Telegraph Macklemore had “agreed to perform clean versions of all his songs”.
But in response to the criticism about same-sex marriage debate he declared:
“I’m gonna go harder,” he said.
Read the lyrics to Same Love below.
---------------//-----------------
SAME LOVE LYRICS
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
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?
A 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 who like 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
Ahh nah, here we go
America the brave
Still fears what we don’t know And God loves all his children it’s somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written 3, 500 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’ve become so numb to what we’re sayin’
Our culture founded from oppression
Yeah, we don’t have acceptance for ‘em
Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board
A word routed 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 colour the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that lead people to walkouts and sit-ins,
It’s human rights for everybody
There is no difference
Live on! And be yourself!
When I was in church, they taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service Those words aren’t anointed
And that Holy Water, that you soak in is then 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 ‘til 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 a veil over our eyes
We turn our back on the cause
‘Till the day That my uncles can be united by law
Their kids are walkin’ around 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’s 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
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
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