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Grace Fields

English 1201

Prof. Cassel

29 September 2019

Same Love

Sexualilty continues to be a highly debated topic. In the song “Same Love” by

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, they discuss same sex marriage and equality. In 2014,

Angel Haze made an updated version of this song and explained her personal

experience with this issue.

The artists of the original song “Same Love” Macklemore and Ryan Lewis met in

2006. Lewis was working on photographing Macklemore for promotional shots and they

soon became good friends. Same Love was apart of their album ​The Heist​, which came

out in 2012. In an interview with Studio 360, Macklemore claims he created this song to

minimize the amount of homophobia and misogyny in the world. This song and music

video appeals to viewers pathos because it shows a boy growing into a man, while

facing problems with his family and himself.

Angel Haze made a cover of “Same Love” in April of 2014. In the beginning of

her song she states “love yourself, accept yourself, live your life in a way that’s natural
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to you.” I think this is a very important message because people tend to forget to love

themselves when others are putting them down. If you love and accept yourself it can

ease a small amount of pain. This song and music video appeals to pathos. Haze uses

her personal experiences to help viewers understand how she felt, which could help

others relate to past struggles.

These songs are similar because they each start out with their personal

experiences of telling their mothers they identified characteristics in their behaviors that

made them believe they were gay at a young age. Haze states “at age thirteen my

mama knew I wasn’t straight” along with Macklemore stating “when I was in the third

grade I thought that I was gay.” Their moms were very confused in the moment, but

Haze’s mother was angry and didn’t agree with her lifestyle. Both songs discuss being

locked away in a room or going to church can “fix” their sexuality, which isn’t how the

situation should be handled. The meaning of these songs is that we as a society need

to change our view on people who love someone of the same sex. Macklemore states

“a world so hateful that someone would rather die than be who they are.” Hundreds of

teens take their own lives due to their families, schools, friends, and society neglecting

them. Towards the end of Macklemore’s song, he states “no laws gonna change us, we

have to change us.” This means, if we all stand together and accept each other for who

we are, the world would be a better place, but it starts with us.
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In the music video “Same Love” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the video starts out

with a happy, young boy playing with his friends and having fun. As the video continues,

it shows the boy growing up and becoming angry and upset with himself and the world.

As he ages, he finds a man and falls in love with him. Towards the middle of the video

the Man and his boyfriend explain their relationship to his parents and they do not

approve, along with society. The men in the video decided to continue their relationship,

without anyone's approval and happily got married. In the last clip of the music video, it

shows the two men at the hospital, still in love, holding hands as one of them passes

away.

In each music video, there is a different main character and point of view. In the

older version by Maklemore and Ryan Lewis, it shows a young man getting older and

growing as a person. In the newer version by Angel Haze, the music video is explaining

her own personal experience and perspective on her life and what she has been

through. The audience for these videos would mainly be people who are a part of the

LGBTQ+ community, but it is also relevant for everyone in society who can change their

opinions and beliefs to accept someone.

In conclusion, both videos send a valuable message into our world. Macklemore,

Ryan Lewis, and Angel want to normalize gay marriage and relationships rather than
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disregarding them. We should accept others for who they are and what they like, in the

end “well all be drowning in the same blood.”

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Works Cited-

https://youtu.be/hlVBg7_08n0​ - “Same Love” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

https://youtu.be/4XNix3Pf_c4​ - “Same Love” by Angel Haze