My sister started playing this song on her iPod for me without telling me what it is.

Now, I’m not much of a rap listener, but for some reason I’ve been enjoying Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ newest album as well as his original one.

I like this song specifically because he takes what is probably very annoying Irish music and sets it to a catchy, contemporary beat.

He proceeds to embrace his roots in his proud lyrics:

Toast to those that made it on a boat to New York
And when the English came the colonizer came
They filled up bottles of gasoline, turned ’em into balls of flame
And hurled ’em to protect what’s ours

I very much enjoy Macklemore’s rapping in general. His lyrics have minimal curse words, his songs are in general very profound and thought-provoking.

– Daily Prompt

Other Macklemore favorites from The Heist:

Can’t Hold Us – Ray Dalton’s singing just brings the whole song together

Thrift Shop – classic; not very deep but definitely catchy

Same Love – summing up the gay marriage debate so eloquently; basing the whole situation not even about questions of faith and belief, but more about ethics and human nature

Make the Money – speaking about rappers, famous people, and just regular people, and the way that everyone seems to act when their end goal is money and material happiness

Neon Cathedral – Allen Stone is actually a great featured artist for this song. I really love the beat but I haven’t fathomed the lyrics just yet…

Wings – who knew that he could create a whole song around a pair of shoes? But then again, the whole song expands to reference the impact that the shoes have on his life, the symbol that they represent to him

What are your favorite Macklemore songs? Lyrics?