Watch Ezra Furman’s Video for Protest Song “Body Was Made”

What do Boy George, Sufjan Stevens, and James Murphy have in common? A love of Ezra Furman, apparently, two of the three were spotted at a recent Furman show. The 29-year-old Chicago songwriter has been releasing records in various guises since 2007—initially with his band, the Harpoons, and more recently with The Boy-Friends who play on his current solo album Perpetual Motion People (out now on Bella Union).

Above is the video for single “Body Was Made,” a lounge-pop cool tune featuring plenty of brass blasts, marvelous makeup and a message that needs no explanation: “Your body is yours at the end of the day / Don’t let the hateful take it away / We want to be free and we go our own way.”

Well actually we wouldn’t mind a bit of an explanation so we asked Furman himself.

“‘Body Was Made’ is a protest song against the people and forces that would make me ashamed of my body, my gender and my sexuality,” he says. “It’s a declaration of freedom from false authority and self-appointed social police who have given me grief all my life.”

Watch below.

Ezra Furman Tour Dates

12/1-Seattle,WA-Tractor Tavern*
12/2-Portland,OR-Mississippi Studios*
12/3 Arcata, CA – Richard’s Goat*
12/6-San Francisco,CA-Rickshaw Stop*
12/8-San Diego,CA-The Casbah*
12/9 Los Angeles, CA – The Echo*
12/9 Washington DC – Rock and Roll Hotel
2/10 New York, NY – The Bowery