Tara IvyEnglish 100 Wedemeyer June 26, 2018 Song A Essays - Music

Tara IvyEnglish 100 Wedemeyer June 26, 2018 Song Analysis Dyke, fag, or switch hitter are just some of the many derogatory terms used to refer to people of the LGBTQ+ community. How many times have you or someone you know used the verbiage " no homo " or " that ' s gay " as a means to express a heterosexual stance on a topic or during a discussion? Why has such verbiage become the norm for our society? How can we as a people not see that this verbiage should be viewed as hateful and revolting? Terms like these are systematic and aid the social injustices of the LGBTQ+ community. In 2012 Ben Haggerty a hip-hop artist, better known as Macklemore teamed up with his group mate Ryan Lewis and singer, songwriter Mary Lambert to create one of the most powerful songs and videos in support of the LGBTQ+ community. The song titled Same Love advocates equality, it discusses the false perceptions of homosexuality, the use of derogatory words in the med ia and music, and how society should stop fighting against sexual equality and move forward in support of the movement. Macklemore opens the song instantly pointing out that the world has distorted views on what it means to be gay. Macklemore shows how we can put labels on certain activities and actions making them gender biased and shaming the opposite sex for participating in them, by calling a man gay for painting or a woman a dyke for playing football or basketball. He is effective in getting his message across by, showing a young homosexual male playing football with his friends in the Same Love video, which usually is pre-conceived as a heterosexual activity. He does this with hopes of changing the way society categorizes activities, pointing out that there is really no one idea or action that is " gay " or " straight " . The song touches bases on one of the biggest misconceptions about homosexuality, which is the idea that being LGBTQ+ is a choice and ca n be changed. Society needs to understand that being gay is not a sickness and it cannot be healed. In the song, he says, " The right-wing conservatives think it ' s a decision and you can be cured with some treatment and religion / Man-made, rewiring of a pre-disposition. 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 " . These lyrics address the core of the predispositions in our societies, religion, and politics. The right-winged conservations believe that homosexuality is bad and should be fixed. He points out that churches think that the " gay " can be prayed away, which is exemplified when he says, " And God loves all his children are somehow forgotten, but we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago " . The song dances around the fact that many people use the bible and religion to ju stify hate against homosexuals, even though the ideals of homosexuality in the bible are very outdated and no longer applies to all of society today. At this point in the song, Mary Lambert sings, " And I can ' t change, even if I tried, even if I wanted to " . Through this catchy upbeat chorus is where the lyrics of the song further supports the idea that being LGBTQ+ is not a choice. The chorus is meant to grab the listener ' s attention. Her high pitched tone is a big shift from the monotoned voice of Macklemore ' s, which made me pay attention to what Mary is saying and recognize that homosexuality is not a choice, and there is no way to change that. Macklemore ' s powerful communication of the truth about homosexuality continues as he shifts the conversation from politics toward the hip-hop industry and its lack of support for the LGBTQ+ community. During a radio interview on " The Angie Martinez Show " at the two-minute and two-sec ond mark, Macklemore states that he felt the hip-hop community plays a