Music is a universal language.
It is amazing how this human invention became a massive influence that bridges different kinds of people, their culture, and traditions.
As this video shows, musicians can build bridges with the power of music.
Music was believed to transcend language, culture, and even geographic boundaries.
This belief was proven by an organization called Playing for Change, which was created by Mark Johnson and Enzo Buono. This organization aims to establish music education programs over the world to empower the belief that music is universal.
To put their project into work, they brought their portable recording studio and started jumping from place to place around the world to record various musicians performing their rendition of the same song.
The first song they recorded was Ben E. King’s, all-time classic, “Stand By Me.” The song holds many interpretations like love and unity, which was perfect for the theme of this project.
The voices of the people all merged into one song.
Before the song started, Rodger Ridley, a musician from Santa Monica, California came up with a wonderful opening message:
“This song says, no matter who you are, no matter where you go in your life, at some point you’re gonna need somebody to stand by you.”
Ridley was the first one to lead the song with his improvised lyrics and his guitar.
It then transitioned to Grandpa Elliot and Washboard Chaz, both of whom were musicians from Louisiana who displayed their unique styles to the music.
Grandpa Elliot sang with his deep, and raspy voice while Washboard Chaz scraped his washboard instrument to provide percussions. Ridley and Elliot made up an astounding duet as they both sang the chorus.
As it continues, they show more musicians as they fly to farther places around the map.
No matter where they went, each musician had an amazing performance.
Later on, they find Clarence Bekker from the Netherlands who was glad to sing the second verse of the song.
You would see the passion in him as he sang the song soulfully. A group of percussionists from New Mexico called Twin Eagle Drum Group was then featured along with Bekker.
The farther the group traveled, the more unique musicians they discovered.
Among the featured musicians in their music video were François Viguié from France, Cesar Pope from Brazil, and Dimitri Dolganov from Russia.
Another musician from Louisiana named Roberto Luti also showed skills in his slide guitar solo, along with the instrumental duet Geraldo & Dionisio from Venezuela.
There are a lot more individuals and groups who pitched in their talents for the music video.
Stefano Tomaselli from Italy serenaded with his jazzy saxophone as everyone continued singing.
Finally, the South African group Sinamuva gave their voices to accompany the rest of the musicians. Together, they produced a harmonious melody that showed beauty and unity regardless of where they stood.
Even today, there are still people watching this inspiring music video.
The video amazingly racked up an enormous view count of 146 million on YouTube.
With the song’s wonderful meaning and positivity, it became the perfect song to listen during this quarantine.
Seeing every musician pour their heart and soul into this music video is enough to make anyone happy.
This is how powerful music is in our lives. Music closes every gap, allowing people to stand together amidst these hard times.
This is truly food for the soul.
When it comes to ways to support homeless communities, this has to be one of the best.
To see the full performance, click on the link below:
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