Those were exactly my thoughts when I went to see Rankin's photography exhibition "FROM CONGO WITH LOVE" at the National Theater at London's Southbank.
My natural reaction to any thing that resonates with me is to write... either a song or a poem. I however felt like I couldn't write about this because my current life or past experiences is so far removed from the stories of the people I was reading about.
I have seen human resilience in the face of adversity but the people i was looking at in the pictures take this statement to a whole new level. It is great to tell someone else's story but even greater when you provide an avenue for people to tell their own stories.
This was what Rankin did when he visited The Democratic Republic of Congo. He gave disposable cameras to the people to present their lives and tell their own stories in pictures.
More than anyone else, the Children's pictures struck me. With this song "Running" I tried to tell what a child's experience of war might be like. I also wanted another person's take on this story and so asked KARL NOVA to write on the song and he graciously agreed.
The crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo is often known as the ‘forgotten conflict,’ yet it is a war that has killed over 5 million people. I find that it is so easy to live in a bubble and when we are trying to make a living thinking about other people's struggle can be a challenge in itself. This song reminds me to look outside myself and in anyway I can help make someone else's life just a little bit better.
War makes absolutely no sense to me and if I had the power to make a change it would be to end all forms of war! My current power an influence is in song writing and that's what I tried to do with the song "RUNNING"
Pen Voyage Chapter 1; Singing for Change is out on iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/pen-voyage-chapter-1-singing/id466810768
You can buy the physical CD here
Listen to tracks from the album here
Latest tracks by Lánre
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