Playing for Change
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
Today, on Twitter, @bytera shared a video link with me. I agree with Jesus Diaz at Gizmodo.com – it is the best version of Ben E. King’s Stand By Me I’ve ever heard. Listening to it now for the 10th time, I am no less impacted by the raw emotion, the passion, the humanity of the song. I am uplifted and encouraged and hopeful that perhaps this small planet of ours has a chance to overcome greed and malice and hate and bigotry.
It affects me on many levels. Personally, it reminds me I am not alone. There are things I face now and have faced unknown to even my family. Things I don’t write here because it’s not time and I’m not comfortable with that level of sharing. Also – It reminds me of why I love to sing and how, if I were offered the choice, I would rather sing with these artists than Beyonce or Etta James or even Aretha Franklin. And I would be supremely honored for the chance.
There’s a thread that runs through us all. As it passes from soul to soul, the thread becomes a cord. The cord becomes a rope and, whether we know it or realize it, we are all connected. We are bound. It is the thread of humanity. It’s deeper and richer than the cars we drive, the money we waste or the money we need. It surpasses the beauty of a Degas or the sound of Mozart, though both reflect our need and hunger to reach and touch and feel this connection.
Some of us are numb to this. Some of us have forgotten. But the connection is there and when we put down our weapons and our words and our hate, we find we have more in common than the things that divide us. We find that vegan and carnivore, black and white or brown, rich or poor – these are only labels. They are things that do not give true value or meaning to a soul. (more…)
Welcome back!


Posts