New Music: Mary Lambert’s “She Keeps Me Warm”

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It seems like this is just a week of Really Exciting Gifts From The Goddess, because yesterday I got to tell you all about the 100 Most Stylish dapperQs and today I get to tell you that “She Keeps Me Warm,” a brand new gorgeous single from Mary Lambert, is now available for purchase on iTunes! What will tomorrow bring? And the next day? Why is the future so bright and shiny?! I don’t even know, but let’s focus on today’s magic and talk about how incredible Mary’s new song is, because oh my gosh I love it. You know what, before I say anything, let’s just listen together. We can hold hands if you want.

Isn’t it just the most beautiful perfect love song you’ve ever heard? The vocals and the music are spectacular, obviously, but as a writer I’m always most interested in a song’s lyrics. Mary does an exquisite job capturing the way your heart and your brain feel in the beginning, in that space you want to stay in forever, when things feel easy and fun and exciting and new, when each brief text or touch is a revelation and absolutely everything is a possibility. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? “What’s your middle name, do you hate your job, do you fall in love too easily? What’s your favorite word, you like kissing girls, can I call you baby?” Isn’t it wild to realize the human experience is really so universal? I guess that’s why love songs are so well received – we all just wanna meet a cute smart human and wait until just the right moment to call them “babe” for the first time.

The origin for this song is, of course, Macklemore’s platinum hit “Same Love,” on which Mary collaborated with the sweet chorus that is the foundation of her new single. While “Same Love” was obviously rooted in politics (back in 2012 Carmen reported that it will melt your heart and invigorate your politics and she was and is still correct), Mary explains on her blog that this new release is really more a love song than anything else.

Releasing ‘She Keeps Me Warm’ today is a massive and scary step. Simply because this song is not political. It’s not about oppression or marriage equality. This song is a love song. That’s all it is. It’s an honest love song, an extended version of my chorus from ‘Same Love.’ It’s another side of the story. The only difference with this song is that there are female pronouns. I’m not trying to be shocking. I suppose it’s inadvertently making a statement, but I hope this song sits in all hearts- gay or straight. It’s not about any of that. It’s about love. It’s always been about love.

Mary’s appearing on HuffPostLive today at 4pm EST (1pm PST) to talk more about the song, being an out musician, and more. You should head over there and listen – I’ll be over here hitting repeat on this track all day and doodling hearts in my notebook.

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Vanessa

Vanessa is a writer, a teacher, and the community editor at Autostraddle. Very hot, very fun, very weird. Find her on twitter and instagram.

Vanessa has written 398 articles for us.

33 Comments

  19. i can’t listen to “same love” without crying as soon as mary lambert starts singing. i ended up sobbing through all of this song, too. it’s the chorus that gets me– i’m not out to my parents yet, and i’m scared to come out because of how homophobic they are. but i’ve known who i am since i was a child, and i’ve been with my girlfriend for over a year now. i don’t know how to convey the fact that the way she makes me feel isn’t wrong, and that i wouldn’t change a thing about us– or myself– even if i could.

    i don’t know. i guess this is the first song i’ve ever heard that’s expressed all of that at once– the simple, helpless, elated admission of loving someone so wholeheartedly and having it returned in spades. thank you for sharing this, vanessa. it’s perfect.

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