HeartSongs - 20180625
- Written by Marky Edison
Welcome to HeartSongs, our regularly scheduled (probably) look at songs and the people who write them. We spoke to Gizmo Varillas about his new song ‘One People’.
“I wrote this song on a Spanish nylon guitar, which I then replaced with an organ Latin rhythm in the recording process. I also used a Brazilian Cuica to give it a pulsating groove throughout the track and the bass is what gives the song a really punch of energy. The verse melodies have a certain African element in them - a communal call and response. There are inherent Cuban influences and rhythms imbedded in these native African grooves as well. It's an example of how two cultures are not so far apart from one another.
History shows us that, as we migrated around the world, we also took the music with us and thus culture and people's expression of it became a shared experience. It still is today, as we continue to evolve our heritage and blend our influences together to create something new. That's what, in my opinion, really connects us. And I think we should celebrate that.
The lyrics of this song are about bringing people closer together. It saddens me to see how both far left and far right groups around the world are becoming popular and how they incite violence to no avail. The way I see it is that hate can only fuel more hate and there is no solution in violence. It's a never ending cycle. It is the innocent people and families stuck in the middle - who get hurt the most. I think it's important to acknowledge the past so we can learn from our mistakes and not let them happen again. This song is a plea to get together.”
Lyrics:
We go on and on
Get together
If not us who will
Who?
We're one people
One people
Get together now
We're moving on
Now or never
If not us who will
Who?
Who?
We're one people
One people
Get together now
Gotta give it
Give it a chance
Who?
We're one people
One people
Get together now
