Everyone knows the popular song by Ben E. King “Stand By Me”. However, I don’t know that everyone has heard the song performed quite like this ever before. Last year, my chorus teacher had us watch the attached video, which is a version of Stand By Me from the award-winning documentary, “Playing For Change: Peace Through Music”. This documentary features a number of popular songs sung and played by musicians around the world. I absolutely loved this from the very first time I heard/watched it. In the video clip, you can see the many different countries being represented around the world by musicians that would not normally get exposure. The song opens with a guitar player and singer from California, just playing on the streets. As the song goes on, many different voices and instruments are added in, all somehow fitting together perfectly. A man in France is playing the tambourine; a man from Brazil plays the ukelele; one from Russia on the cello; South Africa features an a capella vocal group; from Italy, an alto saxophone player. So many different ethnicities and countries, yet they are all brought together through this one song.
This video is an amazing display of the power of music to bring people together. Music just links people, bonding them in a way that nothing else can. It is incredible, almost magical in a sense. The musicians in this video are not famous, and they are not seeking fame. They all have a unique style which they add to their music, thus making the song as a whole that much better. The power of music never ceases to amaze me.
Wow was one of the best versions of this song that I’ve ever heard. I love how they tie all those voices together, this song is beautiful and amazing. You’re right, it’s extraordinary how music can bring people together and have such a profound effect all over the world. This post was awesome!
Aw this is really nice. I think this is a sweet sounding song in general and I really like how all the cultures are brought together in this video that’s great. I think the blending of all the cultures makes the song seem more powerful. I’m glad I listened to this 🙂
It is really just a careful job of editing the various performances together. someone could try something like this with a video report that is a “speech” given by the various members of the group in turn. I know this video. It is quite effective.
A few more comments: 1 – the power of such SIMPLE music is astounding; 2 – did you notice the smile on the face of the recording engineer? he clearly knew he was collecting GOLD and 3 – did you notice the guy at the very end who drops a dollar in the hat? Interesting comment on the value of art: when it moves us to pay money for it, the art has clearly MOVED us!