Songs
COMMON & JOHN LEGEND, “Glory,” 2014
COMMON & JOHN LEGEND, “Glory,” 2014 The 2015 Academy Award and Golden Globe winner for best original song, “Glory,” is the theme for the 2014 film Selma, about the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches in 1965 to do away with the discriminatory criteria placed on black citizens to deny them the right to vote. The gospel-tinged song, sung by John Legend with rapper Common, references…
https://geo.itunes.apple.com/ca/album/glory-from-motion-picture/id951104551?at=…
UB40, "Sing Our Own Song," 1986
UB40, "Sing Our Own Song," 1986 Recently reimagined by Buffy Sainte-Marie about Native rights, this anti-apartheid song by British reggae-pop band UB40 came out in 1986, eight years before the end of nearly five decades of racial segregation in South Africa. Found on the album Rat in the Kitchen and some greatest hits packages, "Sing Our Own Song" features the lines “We will fight for…
https://geo.itunes.apple.com/ca/album/sing-our-own-song-edit/id713072931?i=7130…
"Save the Children (Look Into Your Heart)," feat. Beverley Knight, Nick Mason, Mick Jagger & Ronnie Wood, 2015
"Save the Children (Look Into Your Heart)," feat. Beverley Knight, Nick Mason, Mick Jagger & Ronnie Wood, 2015 Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason produced this charity song to raise money for Save The Children’s Nepal earthquake appeal fund. British soul singer Beverley Knight handles lead vocals, Mick Jagger sang back-up and Ronnie Wood played guitar. A 100-member Save The Children choir…
https://geo.itunes.apple.com/ca/album/save-children-look-into-your/id991559886?…
COLD SPECKS, “We Are Many (Revisited),” 2015
COLD SPECKS, “We Are Many (Revisited),” 2015 “Hands up/Don’t shoot/I can’t breath,” Cold Specks, a.k.a. Al Spx (born Ladan Hussein), sings on this powerful a cappella gospel/blues song “We Are Many (Revisited),” inspired by her own experience with racism and the killing of Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY. The track, which isn’t found on her critically acclaimed 2014 album, Neuroplasticity, is…
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/we-are-many-revisited/id981508550?i=981508556…
AVRIL LAVIGNE, “Fly,” 2015
AVRIL LAVIGNE, “Fly,” 2015 In the lead up to the 2015 Special Olympics World Games, taking place July 25-Aug. 2 in Los Angeles, Canadian pop-rock artist Avril Lavigne has released “Fly” to benefit the Special Olympics, which helps people with intellectual disabilities overcome barriers through sports. “This song means a lot to me personally,” Lavigne said in a statement. “It is inspired by the…
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/fly-single/id984316294?uo=6&at=10ltPU&ct=
NOTHING MORE, "Jenny," 2015
NOTHING MORE, "Jenny," 2015 Nothing More frontman Jonny Hawkins wrote “Jenny” about his sister’s complicated and self-destructive struggle with bipolar disorder and his mother’s final year. Now the Texas-based rock band is using the song to expand the discussion about mental illness. Of the 1 in 5 people who have a mental illness, only 41 percent will seek help, according to the…
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/jenny/id871029547?i=871029644&uo=4&at=10ltPU
SAM SMITH (feat. JOHN LEGEND) "Lay Me Down," 2015
SAM SMITH (feat. JOHN LEGEND) "Lay Me Down," 2015 Two of the best modern soul singers today, America’s John Legend and Britain’s Sam Smith, join forces on a charity single for Comic Relief. The powerful song is Smith’s “Lay Me Down” from his 2014 debut album, In The Lonely Hour. Released for UK telethon Red Nose Day March 13, Smith and Legend cut the new version of the song earlier…
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/lay-me-down-feat.-john-legend/id974732586?i=9…
"Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?," L. May Wheeler, 1884
"Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?," L. May Wheeler, 1884 In honour of International Women’s Day, Samaritanmag’s cause song of the month is “Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be? (Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?)” about women’s suffrage — the right to vote on the same terms as men. Written by L. May Wheeler circa 1884, the chorus is “Oh dear, what can the matter be / Women are wanting to…
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/oh-dear-what-can-the-matter-be!/id159105177?i…
TAYLOR SWIFT, "Welcome To New York," 2014
TAYLOR SWIFT, "Welcome To New York," 2014 In late October, Taylor Swift announced that all the proceeds from “Welcome to New York”— from her 2014 album, 1989 — would go to the New York City Department of Education, which serves 1.1 million students in more than 1800 public schools. In late February, the 25-year-old made the first payment of $50,000 after the pop song was certified gold…
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/welcome-to-new-york/id907242701?i=907242702&u…
GLEN CAMPBELL, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You," 2015
GLEN CAMPBELL, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You," 2015 Rhinestone cowboy Glen Campbell doesn’t know his very last recording, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” won Best Country Song at the 2015 Grammy Awards. The 78-year-old, whose 70-plus albums have sold more than 45 million copies, has Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia. “I'm still here, but yet I'm gone ,” the lyric begins. Co-written by…
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/im-not-gonna-miss-you/id922383157?i=922383296…
JULIAN TAYLOR BAND, "Be Good To Your Woman," 2014
JULIAN TAYLOR BAND, "Be Good To Your Woman," 2014 Toronto’s Julian Taylor Band is donating $2 from every copy sold of their latest album, Tech Noir, to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, whose mandate is to “empower women and girls in Canada to move out of violence, out of poverty and into confidence.” When the Jian Ghomeshi scandal made headlines last fall, it sparked open conversation…
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/tech-noir/id860197252?uo=4&at=10ltPU
BIF NAKED, "Intellectual," 2015
BIF NAKED, "Intellectual," 2015 Singer Bif Naked is donating 100 percent of the song proceeds to AIDS Vancouver. "Intellectual" — from a series of dance tracks she wrote and recorded with Jason Darr (Out of Your Mouth, Neurosonic) — was intended to be lighthearted and fun. She tells Samaritanmag the song is “truly an anthem for self-esteem, for gender fluidity and sexual self-identity…
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/intellectual-world-aids-day/id942804857?uo=4&…
USS, "Shipwreck," 2014
USS, "Shipwreck," 2014 Toronto turntable-rock duo USS (Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker) wrote “Shipwreck” — for the album Advanced Basics — about depression and addiction and “drowning in a sea of blame.” But there’s always help to pull you out of your funk or dire situation. “Call me / When you need someone to listen to you / Call me / When you're flirting with the edge,” Ashley Buchholz…
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/shipwreck/id786790217?i=786790273&ign-mpt=uo%…
CITY AND COLOUR, "Nowhere Texas," 2014
CITY AND COLOUR, "Nowhere Texas," 2014 City and Colour’s Dallas Green has been sitting on the ghostly acoustic track "Nowhere Texas" since recording his latest album, The Hurray and the Harm, waiting for find the right cause to donate the proceeds. He told Samaritanmag he wrote it after watching the film Texas Killing Fields about “these girls from these small towns get picked up and…
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/nowhere-texas/id944089799?i=944089801&uo=4&at…
TRACY CHAPMAN, "Behind The Wall," 1988
TRACY CHAPMAN, "Behind The Wall," 1988 This a cappella song about domestic abuse is as powerful today as it was when Tracy Chapman released it in the late 80s. Found just four songs in on her remarkable self-titled debut, the words of "Behind The Wall" no doubt ring true for many people in an abusive relationship that have tried to get help. “It won't do no good to call / The police…
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/behind-the-wall/id79565550?i=79565524