Thursday, July 02, 2009

Playing for Change

Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music.

Music. It may not show up in our DNA, and there probably isn’t a gene for it, but music is inside every single one of us—way down deep inside, in what many call our soul. Or our spirit. Music transcends race, and nationality, and culture because it speaks to the soul, to the spirit, to our shared humanness. It speaks to our unremembered memories of the womb, to our heartbeat beating along with our mother's.

Our shared humanness.

Can a group of people, then, bring us all together through videos and concerts of street musicians who play for change? Probably not, but it feels good to hope, and to dream, and to spread the music around on this blog.

Please take 10½ minutes and watch both of these incredible videos. And make sure that you turn the volume to LOUD.




Back in January, I posted this next video because it blew me away; it affected me in a way that brought a tear to my eye. And it still does, every time I watch it. The footage of Grandpa Elliott, the loveable fellow with the fluffy white beard from New Orleans, was shot after Katrina.


4 comments:

Momentary Madness said...

way way down inside, a whole lot of love, a whole lot of love.
;-)

Mary Witzl said...

I'll have to come back to this one, Charlie: the internet connection we've signed on for (temporarily) won't allow downloads.

I loved Stand By Me, though, and so did my daughters. We've come back to it again and again.

Barbara Bruederlin said...

Going to have a look and a listen now. And I personally DO believe that we have music in our DNA.

Marie said...

Tie-in: I was watching the film "Bound for Glory" about Woodie Guthrie while I read this post.

Thought: Music brings us together for a little while, but afterward we gotta go back to our accustomed, conditioned isolation. Must have something to do with the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

I hate to bring on a massive corollary, but...

http://deoxy.org/ct/alienation.htm

...with luck the best minds of our time will show the rest of us how to break the blockade.