Here’s some well-timed inspiration and encouragement as we head into what promises to be a stressful election day and aftermath. Singer/songwriter Jennifer Maidman (of the Penguin Café Orchestra, among others) and Senegalese music icon Youssou N’Dour have collaborated on an anti-bullying song composed by Aram Rubenstein-Gillis. The song “All In” is performed in English, French and Wolof and delivers a message that executive producer Verna Gills says addresses “a worldwide problem, a human problem.”
There’s a back story here. Gillis managed N’Dour for 12 years during his meteoric rise to international fame in the late '80s and '90s. “Youssou and I made history together,” she notes with understandable pride. Recently, out of the blue N’Dour telephoned Gillis just to check in, and Gillis proposed the idea of him contributing to this song, which he readily agreed to do, insisting that he sing in Wolof.
The song is a soaring anthem of solidarity that hits the spot for a time when this country and the world need to be pulling together, not apart. Let’s hope it starts the ball rolling…
We take the strong ones (We take the strong ones)
And the quiet ones (And the quiet ones)
And the lost ones (And the lost ones)
And the wild ones (And the wild ones )
We take the brave ones (We take the brave ones)
And the wise ones (And the wise ones )
We bring in everyone (We bring in everyone)
'Cause in the long run, ('Cause in the long run,)
It’s only when we stick together that we all can win
And the only way to work it is to go all in
We go, All in
We go, All in
We go, All in
And if we all fall down
We will rise up, and we’ll be stronger somehow
