By using pathos to appeal to the emotion of love in every chorus, “my love, she keeps me warm,”, Macklemore successfully tugs at a listener’s heartstrings because most can relate to the feeling of love in some way or another. This relatability creates a strong sense of pathos, but that is not the only part of the song that creates pathos. The use of child in the song’s opening establishes a strong sense of relatability as it directly illustrates society’s corruption of an innocent child’s mind with the fear of being gay and believing that being would be a fault. The song specifically states “bunch of stereotypes all in my head,” and then goes on to state some of the stereotypes seen in sexuality like artistic and athletic ability. This opening anecdote does two things: it relates to a stereotypical idea of gays and also allows for pathos by creating relatability. The song begins with an anecdote about Macklemore as a third grader fearing he was gay because he could draw. The true success of the song’s claim for gay rights lies in the use of rhetorical devices to support Macklemore’s argument. This song is a great example of exigence and kairos as Macklemore saw his chance and society’s need for the social norms to be questioned and seized the moment with the creation of his song. The time is established by the use of present tense in a critical analysis of today’s society with modern-day references like YouTube and message board. While the song begins with an anecdote from Macklemore’s childhood that clearly evokes a strong sense of ethos, the rest of the song is set in current times. This exigence is directly addressed by the use of modern time in the song. Macklemore directly comments on the political issue of marriage equality and the importance of it as a starting point for the struggle, “a certificate on paper isn’t gonna solve it all, but it’s a damn good place to start.”With so much political and media focus on the issue, the kairos has already been created and there is a great sense of exigence for the issue to be addressed out right. At the national level, we have recently seen the end of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) and President Obama’s clear support of marriage equality. Same sex marriage is a huge debate in every state as progress is slowly being made with each new law passed. The setting of the song is especially important because of the current status of gay rights and marriage equality in the United States. Macklemore also uses ideologies by incorporating words one directly associates with America like freedom, equality, and unity. Perhaps, his best use of a commonplace is in the lyric “America the brave still fears what we don’t know.” America the brave is a line we hear in every patriotic speech and celebration however, Macklemore is now using it to point out a flaw in our country. He establishes the place by the use of various ideologies and commonplaces relating to America. Macklemore establishes the setting of his song in the United States of America, but the message of the song can be applied to many countries struggling with the issue of gay rights. Macklemore made great use of kairos and exigence in the release of his song due to the current setting and time of society. Macklemore’s use of kairos and rhetoric in his song “Same Love” has a great level of success in proving the importance of gay rights and marriage equality. It is truly uplifting to see a hip-hop and rap artist use his celebrity status for good and criticize the flaws in our society. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis released this song as a single after the great popularity of their songs “Thriftshop” and “Can’t Hold Us.” In the song “Same Love,” Macklemore raises his voice against the issues of discrimination, gay rights, and marriage equality that we see in today’s time. These lyrics come from the song “Same Love” by Macklemore with Ryan Lewis and featuring Mary Lambert. However, if i told you that these words were sung by a female vocalist, Mary Lambert, and preceded by the lyrics “I can’t change, even if it tried, even if I wanted to,” suddenly the words have meaning as woman sings of her love for another woman. “My love, she keeps me warm.” Without context, these song lyrics have no impact or power behind them.
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