Los Angeles April 6 (IANS) Singers Kesha and Bob Dylan have joined forces with a slew of other artistes to honour LGBT community by reworking some classic love songs with gender flips.
They changed the pronouns on such songs as "She s funny that way" and "I need a man to love me" in hopes that the new versions could be used by same-sex couples at their weddings reports aceshowbiz.com.
The six-song album "Universal Love" was released on April 4.
It features Kesha s "I need a woman to love me" a spin-off to Janis Joplin s "I need a man to love me".
"I ve always been an advocate for equal rights. It s an issue that is so close to my heart. It is something that is part of my family part of my friends and is a part of me " she said in a video interview released with the album.
"When I was approached for this project I instantly said yes. It was a no brainer and I fought my entire life and my whole career for equality and I will continue to do so forever " she added.
Dylan reimagined "She s funny that way" into "He s funny that way". St. Vincent reworked The Crystals "Then he kissed me" to "Then she kissed me".
St. Vincent said: "I think if you look at the history of music it s always been about changing the culture. If you are a musician if you are a writer or a storyteller you get to tell the stories that people see themselves in. The great thing about music is that transcends all the barriers and it goes right to people s heart and everyone has a heart."
Valerie June re-recorded "Mad about the boy" and changed it into "Mad about the girl".
Tom Murphy a co-producer of "Universal love" said: "If definitions of love and marriage are changing and becoming more inclusive maybe it s time love songs caught up." He also tells New York Times "If we view music as something that brings people together shouldn t these popular songs be open to everyone?"
--IANS
dc/rb/mr
