“Same Love” Video Melts Your Heart, Invigorates Your Politics

Carmen’s Team Pick:

A while back I talked to you about Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ song “Same Love,” which is deeply moving and relevant to your life. But now I have a bonus follow-up for you: the video, released October 2. With a simple plot focused around one man’s coming out and subsequently perfect (and biracial!) union with another man, or I guess, shall I rephrase: elements of your life retold with fake characters, the song also features backup vocals by Mary Lambert, who balances out the dude-based plot by saying things like “I can’t change / even if I tried / even if I wanted to / my love my love my love my love / she keeps me warm.”

I don’t know if you’re having a good week, a bad week, or if you forgot it was Tuesday – but you should hold this close to your heart.

The song and video production for the single are very pointedly political: to remind voters that all relationships are created equal and all love is beautiful. In the YouTube description for the video, the artists wrote, “We support civil rights, and hope WA State voters will APPROVE REF 74 and legalize marriage equality.”

You can help their efforts by buying “Same Love” on vinyl, or you could just support them by buying The Heist today.

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!
Related:

Carmen

Carmen spent six years at Autostraddle, ultimately serving as Straddleverse Director, Feminism Editor and Social Media Co-Director. She is now the Consulting Digital Editor at Ms. and writes regularly for DAME, the Women’s Media Center, the National Women’s History Museum and other prominent feminist platforms; her work has also been published in print and online by outlets like BuzzFeed, Bitch, Bust, CityLab, ElixHER, Feministing, Feminist Formations, GirlBoss, GrokNation, MEL, Mic and SIGNS, and she is a co-founder of Argot Magazine. You can find Carmen on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr or in the drive-thru line at the nearest In-N-Out.

Carmen has written 919 articles for us.

46 Comments

  1. I LOVE MACKLEMORE SO MUCH. pnw represent!

    and i’ve filled out my absentee ballot already marked yes on 74, now i just need to trek to the consulate to mail it home

    so many feelings you guys.

    • Sad that Mary Lambert didn’t get more screen time because her voice has been giving me chills all summer. Reppin’ our local queer lady poet/singer making good on this song.

      • i haven’t heard of her before this song because i’ve been slacking on looking for music that i haven’t already been listening to for two years
        but i just found some of her stuff on spotify—new fave, possibly.

        • She is going on tour with them, so you won’t be able to catch her for awhile, but I am used to seeing her at poetry slams at Re-bar.

  3. I was just so happy when I found this. I sampled The Heist on iTunes and it sounds pretty fantastic. This song tops them all, of course.

  4. My little brother called me to tell me about this song/video. It was arguably the cutest thing eh has ever done.

  9. I want to love this song and in some ways I do, but is anyone else bothered by the “I can’t change, even if I tried, even if I wanted to” line?

    • Yes, I am a little bit annoyed that that needs to be there at all. But at the same time the line ends with “even if I wanted to” – which to me basically says “Why the fuck would I want to change?”

      • I’m with Linda here. I’ve always thought it was kind a big “fuck you” to the groups that assume that if someone “wants” to change that they can. To me the lyrics are speaking directly to these groups and telling them that they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.

        Also, beyond the clear pro-gay-marriage message that this song has, Macklemore is pretty clear that he doesn’t think that same-sex marriage is going to solve everything (“and a certificate on paper isn’t going to solve it all/but it’s a damn good place to start”). Not every gay person wants to get married, but we should all fight for that right regardless of our belief or disbelief in the actual institution of marriage. Not because we agree with marriage, but because it is a stepping stone towards equality. It’s not the end all be all, but it is a start.

    • YES! And also the fact that Autostraddle celebrates that line, along with unquestionably and uncritically supporting gay marriage…maybe some of us LGBTQ+ folk don’t want to align ourselves with a patriarchal slave institution, maybe some of us actually think that would be bad for the progression of our movement(s) or limiting to trans* rights–in fact, a lot of us DO think that way. Yet where is that viewpoint ever even mentioned?!

      P.S. See “Falling in Love…with Chris and Greg”‘s roadtrip episode for a better explanation of why gay marriage isn’t just all amazing all the time, but does actually present some problems. I ain’t for homophobia, but I’m also not for gay marriage.

      • See, I 100% agree with the idea that marriage isn’t the be-all-end-all and that the institution is pretty problematic. But using gay marriage as the lead issue towards equality is a pretty brilliant move by advocacy groups, politically and socially. The image of a wedding is such a powerful symbol of love and commitment, and extending it to same-sex couples goes a long way towards helping society see same-sex couples as “legitimate.” I’m all for radical queer culture, but when I was a kid I wanted a white-dress wedding, and I imagine a lot of others did too. For kids today to see that that’s possible with a man OR a woman has a lot of power.

      • I get that some queer people think marriage is an antiquated and patriarchal institution, but guess what….you don’t need to get married! You can hate on marriage all day long, but saying saying you don’t support gay marriage means that me, someone who does want to get married, continues to not be allowed to do something I really want to do. My marriage is not going to be part of a “patriarchal slave institution,” because I get to define what my marriage means, not you or anyone else.

        If you’re anti-marriage, go out an fight to make straight marriage not legally recognized. They are the vast, vast, vast majority of marriages, not queer people. Don’t just use marriage as a way to knock other queer people down. Radical queers who argue against gay marriage remind me of people who argue against abortion. If you don’t want one, don’t have one, but stop trying to make it illegal for me.

  12. so i’m about to head to minnesota for a long weekend to visit a friend / to canvass against their stupid marriage amendment and i kind of feel like i should maybe just pull out my phone and make every voter i talk to watch this video instead of using my script.

  15. ryan lewis and macklemore have a lot of beautiful songs, but this one holds a special place in my heart.

  16. So great! My heart was happy and smiling and then the end…made me cry so much that I had to take a break from eating dinner because tears weren’t mixing well with my salad.

  17. Amazing song, I feel like over the last couple of weeks I have been solely responsible for a good chunk of views on youtube.

    I have a lot of feelings about this song (and thrift shop if you check out the video, simply brilliant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8mJJJvaes).

    Yes it does not cater to all of the LGBTQ* community but like any diverse community, I would imagine that a song 5 mins long would struggle to achieve that.

    For a straight, white, guy in hip hop to sit down and pen a thoughtful, politically challenging song about his gay uncles wanting to marry, I have to say he has done a bloody good job.

    I don’t think songs have to be all things to all people and even though I came out over 10 years ago the words “I can’t change, even if I tried, even if I wanted to” struck so many chords with me I blubbed at my desk for the first view (oh ok and the next 3/4 too).

    I don’t want to change, and never would, but for anyone coming out those thoughts run through your head as regularly as hot women in sneakers… ok sidetracked…apologies.

    It may not represent you or your views personally but it does for me and I have to say I am stoked. May this open the doors for every shade of the community represented in song in mainstream music.

    Thank you for Autostraddle for bringing this song to other people’s radar!

  18. Okay so when this video first came out two different straight dudes who I went to high school with posted it on facebook and I got a little choked up. Sometimes I get so caught up in the “gay community” that I forget about how many really great allies there are out there.

    (also, I can’t remember if autostraddle ever posted about the song “Ben” by Adair Lion (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCjpVfO1N9s) but it’s another rap song about being gay, and it’s great although the video isn’t as cute as this one. check it out!)

    • yeah, ‘ben’ by adair lion is a nice song. but can’t stand the video because w/o his shirt he reminds me a lot of this werewolf dude in this vampire movie because no shirt

  20. If you like this song/Macklemore/Ryan Lewis you have got to get their new album The Heist. It’s really fucking fantastic and they are totally independent artists so it’s especially important to support them!

  21. Yep, crying, obvs not just because its ‘that time of the month’ … unless we’ve all synced up here.

  24. Loved the video from Ireland and how it was so simple and powerful. Can’t wait to see if we can get more states added to the mix.

    PS I don’t think anyone will read this, but I tried my darnest to get to be a member of Autostraddle by registering and it denied me five times. Would love to be a member but I guess that is not happening anymore? Anyway, great article.

  25. Yeah, I loved this song. I actually had a friend post this on facebook yesterday. I am so glad to be from Washington State.

Comments are closed.