Monday, March 15, 2010

It's come to my attention...

That some young Canadian musicians took K'naan's Waving Flag song, possibly the most perfect song to play on the radio in a good while, and made a slightly less good version to benefit victims of the earthquake in Haiti. I thought this idea was genius when I first heard about it, because it's such a great song about personal empowerment and strength, but a little hazy on the details so it could conceivably work for lots of things (full disclosure: I don't know what it was originally about). They added some specifics anyway ("out of the darkness / in came the carnage"--oh, dear) and a rap bridge (yikes) but it is kind of cool to hear all those voices rising together at the end. So I recommend you buy the less good version, because it's a good cause and a song that you really can't wreck. It's sort of a superhero song, so maybe it can really do a lot of good for Haiti--look what it did for soccor.

That Rover Arts posted a nice review of the Journey Anthology 21.

That Bonjour Brioche in Leslieville is wonderful. Crowded on the weekends, but seriously, any carb in the place is probably gold. And waitress sometimes talk to each other in French.

RR

4 comments:

AMT said...

it's come to my attention that i don't know where leslieville is.

?

Amy said...

I just saw the video for this song and was surprised to see Tom Cochrane in there. It's nice that he's still considered a "young artist"!

You probably already know this, but K'naan is a rapper originally from Somalia (if you want to hear something amazing, check out the song "Blues from the Horn," if you can find it). He is also probably BFF with Drake, who does the rap bridge and who will no doubt be haunted in future years by his stint as wheelchair-bound Jimmy on Degrassi: TNG.

Rebecca Rosenblum said...

It's east of the Don, south of Gerrard--a tiny neighbourhood just below Riverside. Here is a helpful map:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverdale,_Toronto

Amy, I stared at this comment forever thinking it had something to do with Star Trek, but then I realized anything could have a next generation. On a more coherent note, thanks for the K'naan tip--I was going to just keep listening to different versions of Wavin' Flag, but I could stand to branch out a bit.

Kerry said...

I love Wavin' Flag. I bought it first thing Friday morning, and we listened to it, then I watched the video on the internet, and then turned on the CBC and it was playing there too. (And that Tom Cochrane-- he turns up everywhere!)

Interesting though, like you I lead a mostly TV-less life, and so the video was actually the first time I'd seen images of what happened in Haiti. Of course, I listen to a lot of radio (and that was what compelled me to donate to charity right after the earthquake), and I read the paper, and check out the internet when Harriet allows, but I hadn't really seen any of it. Makes me realize that television really does have a purpose and those of us without out are missing the boat a little bit sometimes.