Universal Love recasts the genders of classics love songs in an effort to be more inclusive for the LGBTQ community…
Bob Dylan, Kesha, St Vincent, Ben Gibbard, Valerie June and Kele Okereke all appear on a new compilation EP that features “reimagined” versions of traditional love songs for same-sex couples.
Universal Love opens with Dylan’s rendition of the 1929 great American songbook classic “She’s Funny That Way,” revamped as “He’s Funny That Way.”
Kesha flips the pronouns on Janis Joplin’s “I Need a Man to Love,” while St Vincent (AKA Annie Clark) turns the Crystals’ “And Then He Kissed Me” into “And Then She Kissed Me.”
The six-track compilation also features contributions from Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, who switches the Beatles’ “And I Love Her” to “And I Love Him,” while Valerie June flips the pronouns on Noël Coward’s “Mad About the Boy.” Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke does the same with the Temptations’ “My Girl.”
“For years I said that I’m not getting married until any two people can legally marry in this country,” Kesha told the New York Times, while Valerie June said her version of Coward’s song restored it to its original intentions: “It brings the song full circle to know that it was written by a gay man who meant every single word of Mad About the Boy.”
The EP was funded by MGM Resorts International. MGM’s chief executive, Jim Murren, told the New York Times that the songs are intended to serve as future wedding songs for same-sex couples.
Universal Love is available on all streaming platforms beginning today. For more information check out: universal-love.com.
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