Songs
ALEJANDRA RIBERA, "Orlando," 2016
ALEJANDRA RIBERA, "Orlando," 2016 “I am Orlando/You are the world,” Canadian folk singer Alejandra Ribera’s somber song begins. Originally inspired by the title character Virginia Woolf novel Orlando, it has now taken on new meaning. She wrote it in Paris the week of the Charlie Hedbo massacre in 2015 after she was “paralyzed by my sadness” and used songwriting “to soothe myself,” she…
https://soundcloud.com/alejandraribera/alejandra-ribera-orlando-album-vers/s-4O…
VARIOUS ARTISTS, "Hands," 2016
VARIOUS ARTISTS, "Hands," 2016 Two dozen major artists — including Mary J. Blige, Jason Derulo, Selena Gomez, Imagine Dragons, Juanes, Adam Lambert, Jennifer Lopez, P!nk, fun.’s Nate Ruess, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, and Meghan Trainor — have come together to sing on this ballad “Hands" benefitting the victims of the Orlando massacre. The song about the good and bad that hands can…
CLASSIFIED, “Work Away,” (feat. David Myles)
CLASSIFIED, “Work Away,” (feat. David Myles) A song Halifax-based rapper Classified and singer David Myles co-wrote about people who need to leave their families for long stretches to work away from home is now a charity single to raise funds for those affected by the wildfires in Fort McMurray and northern Alberta. All proceeds from the sale of "Work Away" will be donated to the Red Cross and…
https://geo.itunes.apple.com/ca/album/work-away-feat.-david-myles/id1049441640?…
TENACIOUS D "The Last In Line," 2015
TENACIOUS D "The Last In Line," 2015 May 16 marks the sixth anniversary of legendary Dio/Rainbow/Black Sabbath singer Ronnie James Dio's death due to stomach cancer in 2010. In 2015, a tribute album called This Is Your Life, featuring Metallica, Rob Halford, Motorhead and more, was created to support the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund. One song from that album,…
https://geo.itunes.apple.com/ca/album/ronnie-james-dio-this-is-your/id894305150…
GEORGE HARRISON "Bangla Desh," 1971
GEORGE HARRISON "Bangla Desh," 1971 With the Syrian refugee crisis continuing to impact not only Europe, but the rest of the world, it's important to remember musicians have responded to similar events before. In 1971 George Harrison released "Bangla Desh," one of the first-ever charity pop singles. Release three days before the former Beatles member's related Concert For Bangladesh,…
https://geo.itunes.apple.com/ca/album/bangla-desh-bonus-track/id909187937?i=909…
TIM MINCHIN, “Come Home (Cardinal Pell),” 2016
TIM MINCHIN, “Come Home (Cardinal Pell),” 2016 “It might be rather confusing for non-Australians,” wrote Matilda the Musical composer Tim Minchin on his web site about the child abuse cover-up. Cardinal George Pell is “the most powerful dude in the Catholic Church of Australia,” he explains. Currently at The Vatican, Pell has been asked to return home by The Royal Commission into Institutional…
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/come-home-cardinal-pell-single/id1084284098?l…
MARVIN GAYE, "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)," 1971
MARVIN GAYE, "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)," 1971 The second single from Marvin Gaye's landmark What's Going On album, "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)," is one of the greatest, most poignant environmental anthems ever recorded. The song hit No. 4 on the Billboard Pop Chart and No. 1 on the R&B Chart. More importantly, it shared an important message. In three minutes and 14 seconds,…
https://geo.itunes.apple.com/ca/album/mercy-mercy-me-the-ecology/id250038554?i=…
HOZIER, "Cherry Wine"
HOZIER, "Cherry Wine" In time for Valentine’s Day, Hozier released the subtle, but not too subtle video for his acoustic track “Cherry Wine” about the dynamics of domestic abuse. The Irish singer-songwriter, along with Columbia Records, Island Records and Sony/ATV Music Publishing, have agreed to donate their proceeds from the download sales of the single to various charity…
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/cherry-wine-live/id1081483303?i=1081483311
DAMIAN KULASH JR., "Bataclan," 2015
DAMIAN KULASH JR., "Bataclan," 2015 Damian Kulash Jr., frontman for America’s OK go, has written a solemn acoustic song for those who died and were affected by the terrorist attacks at Paris rock venue Bataclan. “I wrote a prayer for peace,” he posted. “with the bombings in Beirut, the attacks in Paris and Mali, […] threats in Brussels, the bombing of the Russian airline, the going…
EAGLES OF DEATH METAL, "Save a Prayer," 2015
EAGLES OF DEATH METAL, "Save a Prayer," 2015 Following a fan campaign to get Eagles of Death Metal’s 2015 version of Duran Duran’s 1982 hit “Save a Prayer” to No. 1 in the UK — a way to express their sympathy and condolences to the victims of the Paris terrorist attack where EODM was performing — Duran Duran frontman Simon LeBon tweeted that they would “donate all proceeds due to us,…
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/zipper-down/id1002614490?app=music&ign-mpt=uo…
RACHEL PLATTEN, “Fight Song,” 2015
RACHEL PLATTEN, “Fight Song,” 2015 “Fight Song” has been Jeremiah Succar’s anthem since May. The 7-year-old has stage-four atypical rhabdoid teratoid, a rare and aggressive form of cancer that occurs in the brain and spinal cord. He learned all the lyrics and even got to sing them with the songwriter herself, Rachel Platten, on his hospital bed at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “This is…
https://geo.itunes.apple.com/ca/album/fight-song-ep/id991946506?at=10ltPU&mt=1&…
CROWDED HOUSE, "Help Is Coming," 1999
CROWDED HOUSE, "Help Is Coming," 1999 The New Zealand pop band recorded "Help Is Coming" more than 15 years ago, but it could have been written today about the Syrian refugee crisis. “Help is coming / We sail tomorrow For Ellis Island…Dreams come true,” Neil Finn sings. More than half a million people have been crossing the Mediterranean by boat, sometimes with fatal results. All…
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/help-is-coming-single/id1039061489?app=itunes…
B & STEVE, "Home Run Anthem," 2015
B & STEVE, "Home Run Anthem," 2015 Canadian patriots B & Steve, whose hoser-rap “Out For A Rip” YouTube video has earned 8.6 million views, have narrowed their focus this time to the Toronto Blue Jays and have decided to donate a slice of the pizza pie, as they say, to Jays Care Foundation. The go Jays rap song, “Home Run Anthem,” which features former Blue Jay and World…
https://geo.itunes.apple.com/ca/album/home-run-anthem-single/id1044835985?at=10…
BLUE RODEO, "Stealin' All My Dreams," 2015
BLUE RODEO, "Stealin' All My Dreams," 2015 Line by line, Blue Rodeo skewers the present Canadian government in what they are calling a “modern day protest song.” In “Stealin’ All My Dreams,” co-vocalist Greg Keelor calls out Prime Minister Harper for his position on everything from the oil pipeline to national security. The accompanying video and web page actually lists a…
CHILLIWACK, "Take Back This Land," 2015
CHILLIWACK, "Take Back This Land," 2015 Chilliwack frontman Bill Henderson, whose hits include “My Girl (Gone, Gone, Gone)” and “I Believe,” has recorded a patriotic song, produced by Bob Rock, inspired by the documentary film Coastal Tarsands: Journey to Deleted Islands. The earnest “Take Back This Land” begins “We’re gonna take back this country; we’re gonna take back this land” and…