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Apr 25, 2018 By Christopher Roberts Photography by Autumn de Wilde She & Him

She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward) have shared two new tracks, “He Gives His Love to Me” and “She Gives Her Love to Me,” which are gender-flipped versions of the same song. They are part of Universal Love, a new project funded by MGM Resorts that previously featured musicians covering classic love songs but adjusting the gender pronouns so that they would be more appropriate for same sex weddings, but now includes original songs. Listen to She & Him’s contributions below via Rolling Stone.

Deschanel and Ward collectively had this to say about the tracks to Rolling Stone: “We have always believed that love belongs to everyone - so love songs should too. What drew us to this project is that it opens up new ways of thinking about songwriting. It would be amazing if our songs help to inspire other artists to engage with lyrics in a more open, and inclusive way.”

Previously for Universal Love St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) covered The Crystals’ “And Then He Kissed Me” as “And Then She Kissed Me.” Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie changed The Beatles’ “And I Love Her” to “And I Love Him.” Bob Dylan’s take on 1929’s “She’s Funny That Way” (by Neil Moret and Richard Whiting) was titled “He’s Funny That Way.” Kesha did Janis Joplin’s “I Need a Man to Love” as “I Need a Woman to Love.” Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke sung about “My Guy,” rather than The Temptations’ “My Girl.” And Valerie June’s version of Nöel Coward’s “Mad About the Boy” (popularized by Dinah Washington) was naturally changed to “Mad About the Girl.”

The initial Universal Love EP came out April 6. In an interview with The New York Times, Tom Murphy, a co-producer of Universal Love, explained the project: “If you look at the history of pop music, love songs have predominantly come from one heterosexual perspective. If we view music as something that brings people together, shouldn’t these popular songs be open to everyone?”

Rob Kaplan is the executive producer on the project. Same sex weddings account for 20 - 30 percent of the ceremonies conducted at MGM Resorts’ 15 hotels in Las Vegas and so it is hoped that the project will help soundtrack some of the ceremonies.

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