British soul-pop legend Sade has expressed her regret for not understanding her trans son in Young Lion, her first song in six years.
The tender apology to her trans son, Izaak Adu, features the lyrics:
“You must have felt so alone. The anguish and pain, I should’ve known… With such a heavy burden, you had to carry all on your own. Forgive me, son, I should’ve known.”
On Friday, October 25, Transa: Selects, a collection of songs off of the non-profit’s upcoming compilation album, was released to bring awareness and understanding from the public at large to the transgender trans.
Following the release of the song, Sade’s son Izaak shared his thoughts on the track in an interview with Rolling Stone. “Though there was nothing I needed to forgive her for, the lyrics ‘Forgive me, son, I should have known,’ struck a chord,” he said. “My mum never tried to oppress the boy; I silently always knew I was. She always let me be me.”
Transa aims to get audiences to think critically about the way we treat trans people in order to help create “a future oriented around values of community, collaboration, care and healing,” as Dust Reid, the album’s co-creator, said in a statement.
