This one was a special one for us. Koji is an artist who has dedicated his art, his life and his career to activism and in particular to the LRA issue and ending the war in central Africa. We found out that he and Brian were coming through town on the Resolve Tour, ten weeks of playing shows all over the US and talking to young people about the war and how through activism they can use their voices to create change both in Africa and in their own communities. Both Brian and Koji, through their work with organizations like Resolve and Invisible Children are the epitome of how a new generation is standing up to say “”no more,”” and backing that up with their actions, their voices, and the real action and commitment that it takes to see change happen.
The guys were coming through Brooklyn on a crazy schedule but they said no matter what, they were going to make this happen, so Kristen, Vaughn and I caught up the guys while they were supposed to be loading in for a show that night in Williamsburg, we walked across the street and found a quiet alley and Koji talked with us about his thoughts on activism and then gave us this inspired cover of one of his heroes, Ted Leo. And the lyrics so perfectly capturing the moment, the setting, and the greater context just have to put them down:
Had we never come across
the vastness of pavement,
the barrenness of waves and
the grayness of the sea;
Never lost or ne’er been misguided,
we’d have ne’er reached seas so shining –
Or come from out
of a handsom in Camden
to a bar in the basement
while all the while it rained;
Or come across
to the friendliest of faces,
handsomest in ugly places –
Or come from out
of the tunnels we dig in,
to see that tunneling’s not living,
and working doesn’t work;
Or come to find
that loving is labor,
And labor’s life and life’s forever –
Or come to see
that keeping’s not giving,
You get what you’ve given,
you get what you deserve;
And in the midst of all of the action
maybe only there found satisfaction.
Chasing seafoam dreams around another dirty old town. Parallel run streams toward the gray ocean from the green ground. “Oed und leer, das meer”, but look beneath the glassy surface. All the songs you hear: down there they have a purpose.
All in all,
we cannot stop singing.
We cannot start sinking.
We swim until it ends.
They may kill
then we may be parted.
but we will ne’er be broken-hearted.
Yep, the lyrics are just that good. “Oed und leer, das meer” comes originally from Robert Wagner’s love story/opera “Tristan and Isolde” and was used by TS Eliot in “The Wasteland.” Catch Koji now on the AMPLIFY PEACE tour as he’s rallying crowds around the country to help call the abducted children and conscripted soldiers of the LRA back home.
More info at:
www.kojisaysaloha.com
www.jeffpianki.com
www.voiceproject.org
www.theresolve.org
www.clrmk.com
www.runforcoverrecords.com
www.nosleeprecs.com