She & Him Contribute Pair Of New Songs To ‘Universal Love’ Project

A pair of newly released singles by She & Him are the latest installments in the expanding Universal Love project. Produced by MGM Resorts, the recordings are meant to provide “wedding anthems for same-sex couples.”

The initial six-song Universal Love EP was issued earlier this month and featured Bob Dylan, St. Vincent, Kesha, Ben Gibbard, Valerie June and Kele Okereke performing gender-inverted covers of classic love songs. Examples include Dylan reworking the 1929 Great American Songbook classic “She’s Funny That Way” into “He’s Funny That Way” and St. Vincent’s “Then She Kissed Me” arrangement of The Crystals’ 1963 Phil Spector hit “Then He Kissed Me.

According to Rolling Stone, She & Him — Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward — were inspired by the EP to write gender trading versions of a new original song, stating:

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.

The resulting She & Him originals “She Gives Her Love to Me” and “He Gives HIs Love to Me” can be streamed below: