Get Your Tissues Ready for Rina Sawayama’s ‘Chosen Family’ Featuring Elton John
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Rina Sawayama dropped her new version of “Chosen Family,” featuring the one and only Elton John, this week.
.@rinasawayama's "Chosen Family," an ode to the LGBT community, resonated with Elton John so much that he would sing it to his children.
Now @eltonofficial joins her for an updated version 💕
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▶️ https://t.co/SUWsUCkCVp pic.twitter.com/Qpm1pA9DAf— Vevo (@Vevo) April 14, 2021
Warning: It will make you emotional.
The song was originally released on Rina’s 2020 Sawayama album, which is a masterpiece in its own right, and quickly became an LGBTQ anthem. The song begins “Where do I belong? / Tell me your story and I’ll tell you mine” and is an ode to the unbreakable bonds we form with the people we let into our lives because we choose to — not because we have to.
Rina has talked about the importance of this track before:
It’s really about my queer family, just appreciating the journeys they’ve been on. I know people who have been kicked out of their house because they came out, and the song is all about accepting each other for who they are. I needed to write very authentically about that, because you can very much straight-wash the whole thing — interestingly, when I showed that song to people, they thought it was about marriage. Chosen family has been a queer concept for a long time, and it felt very special to be able to write that.
Now, the song has gotten an update.
If any song could be a full-on comforting hug, it would be "Chosen Family" by @rinasawayama. And the new @eltonofficial remix takes it to a whole other level 🥲💞 pic.twitter.com/5RZVUHlhGe
— MTV (@MTV) April 14, 2021
MTV is right on the money. “Chosen Family” feels exactly like a comforting hug, and it has only become more comforting with the presence of one of the greatest living songwriters of our generation. The track comes hand-in-hand with a performance lyric video, which you can watch below:
Chosen Family by Rina Sawayama ft. Elton John – out on Wednesday! 🚀
I was blown away when I first heard @rinasawayama and Chosen Family is such a special song. It was a huge honour and genuine thrill to be asked to duet with Rina and rework the song Exxhttps://t.co/KuU0FDvEII pic.twitter.com/MYkqlk2ook
— Elton John (@eltonofficial) April 12, 2021
On working with Rina, Elton said, “I was blown away when I first heard @rinasawayama and Chosen Family is such a special song. It was a huge honour and genuine thrill to be asked to duet with Rina and rework the song”
The result of this duet? Pure perfection.
T magazine cover with @eltonofficial 💗 the most wonderful, passionate, warm, hilarious human who I now call a friend. beautiful portrait by Harley Weir ❤️ on newsstands this weekend!
presave Chosen Family featuring Elton John now: https://t.co/yvcplw4gCl#RINAELTON pic.twitter.com/7UzD56noRq
— RINA SAWAYAMA (@rinasawayama) April 12, 2021
