Music

We are the world.

The passing of Michael Jackson united the front pages of newspapers around the world and has been uniting radio stations around the world for the past couple of weeks.
So his passing is creating that unity that his lyrics inspire us toward.

This unity was also inspired this past weekend as musicians from around the world united at the Rainforest World Music Festival.

In previous centuries, music was used for battle. But as warfare has been declining, music is more typically put to peaceful purposes. Rather than contributing to clashes, it is uniting.

At the rainforest music fest, members of different bands combined talents at jam sessions. As we sat and sweated in a dimly-lit longhouse in the mid-afternoon heat, I mockingly told my friend, “Music will bring peace on earth, man!” But I soon grew less sarcastic. Drummers from Malaysia, Chile, and Morocco thrummed together. Rather than calls to battle against each other, we in the crowd were called to chant together. Then, the Moroccans teamed up with Tanzanian drummers and dancers. The whole room was filled with friendly energy!

How is it that music can be used either for starting war and or for building community? I think it is a common thread of tribal vibes. Drumming inspires tribal emotions. I think we are hardwired with a motto of, “If you're in my tribe, I got your back. But if you're not in my tribe, watch your back.” And where once I would have viewed a Moroccan as coming from another tribe, at the festival we were in the same tribe. Music united us. Peace on earth, man!