Canada’s musical stars have aligned to help Haiti. Avril Lavigne, Drake and Nelly Furtado, Justin Bieber, Sam Roberts, Broken Social Scene, Kardinal Offishall, Metric and Nikki Yanofsky are among the 57 artists performing together on a remixed version of K’naan’s anthem “Wavin’ Flag” that went on sale at midnight yesterday.
Universal Music Canada president and CEO Randy Lennox initially approached producer Bob Ezrin with the idea and he eagerly agreed to help after about “two and a half seconds” of deliberation. The track was prepared and recorded in various locatins over a one week period and the vocals and strings were added at The Warehouse in 2 days, vocals on the first day and strings on the second.
Where the original “Wavin’ Flag” was written about summoning the strength to endure the violence of war-torn Somalia, Ezrin said he and K’naan wanted to shift the emphasis so the revised track was more about “rising from the rubble, rebuilding, overcoming adversity, and a little less about war” and the result is not only a testament to the power of song but also about the human spirit rising above what might seem to be insurmountable adversity. Hats off to K’Naan, Randy Lennox, to all those who gave their voices and spirit, to Bob Ezrin for his nurturing talent and to the spirit in which the hope for deliverance was given.
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Some clarifications:
1) This is not a remix but a new recording of Wavin’ Flag
2) I did not produce Tears Are Not Enough, David Foster did.
3) The track was prepared and recorded in various locations over a one week period and the vocals and strings were done at the Warehouse in 2 days, vocals on the first day and strings on the second.
Please make the appropriate corrections and THANKS for covering the story!
Bob