Playing for Change

I loved this video the first time I saw it. I love it even more now.

Some guys went to different cities and recorded street musicians who play for change. They put a box or a guitar case on the sidewalk and play music and people throw change in their box. Well, the guys who made this CD recorded them and put the music together in a studio. Most of these musicians never met each other. They wanted to show how we can unite the world through music. Music is a language that everyone understands. We can listen to music from another country, and even if we don't understand the language, we can still understand the music. We can feel the power of the music.

The money that they make from selling CDs and t-shirts and things goes to the Playing For Change Foundation. They hope to change the world by building music schools in poor countries.

I think it's great.

Here is the song Stand By Me



If you want to hear the original version of this song and read the words, you can click here.

War - No More Trouble

Here is another song from Playing for Change called "WAR" - it was originally sung by Bob Marley, a Jamaican reggae singer.

Beyoncé - If I Were a Boy

>Beyoncé Knowles (September 4, 1981) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, actress and owner of her own clothing line. Here is her song, "If I Were a Boy".



If I Were A Boy lyrics

If I were a boy even just for a day
I'd roll out of bed in the morning
And throw on what I wanted
And go drink beer with the guys

And chase after girls
I'd kick it with who I wanted
And I'd never get confronted for it
'Cause they stick up for me

If I were a boy
I think I could understand
How it feels to love a girl
I swear I'd be a better man

I'd listen to her
'Cause I know how it hurts
When you lose the one you wanted
'Cause he's taking you for granted
And everything you had got destroyed

If I were a boy
I would turn off my phone
Tell everyone it's broken
So they'd think that I was sleeping alone

I'd put myself first
And make the rules as I go
'Cause I know that she'd be faithful
Waiting for me to come home, to come home

If I were a boy
I think I could understand
How it feels to love a girl
I swear I'd be a better man

I'd listen to her
'Cause I know how it hurts
When you lose the one you wanted
'Cause he's taking you for granted
And everything you had got destroyed

It's a little too late for you to come back
Say it's just a mistake
Think I'd forgive you like that
If you thought I would wait for you
You thought wrong

But you're just a boy
You don't understand
And you don't understand, oh
How it feels to love a girl
Someday you wish you were a better man

You don't listen to her
You don't care how it hurts
Until you lose the one you wanted
'Cause you're taking her for granted
And everything you had got destroyed
But you're just a boy

Seal

Seal Henry Olusegun Kwassi Olumide Adelo Samuel (born 19 February 1963 in Paddington, London) is a British soul singer and songwriter. His name Olusegun means "God is victorious". Known professionally by his first name, Seal is known for his numerous international hits.

Here is Seal singing a song called "A Change is Gonna Come", which was originally written and sung by Sam Cooke. The song became popular during the Civil Rights movement, when people began to see the possibility for change. Seal release his version of the song in 2008, when another change was about to happen - the election of Barack Obama.




I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I've been running ever since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

It's been too hard living but I'm afraid to die
Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knocking me
Back down on my knees

Oh, there were times I thought I wouldn't last for long
Now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long time coming
and I know a change is gonna come, yes it will I know
A change is gonna come
I said I know change is gonna come
A change is gonna come, right now
A change is gonna come, I see it now
Believe me, I said a change is gonna come

Sade

Helen Folasade Adu, OBE, (born 16 January 1959), better known as Sade (pronounced ʃɑːˈdeɪ, shah-DAY), is a British singer-songwriter, composer, and record producer. She first achieved success in the 1980s as the frontwoman and lead vocalist of the popular Grammy Award winning English group Sade.

Sade was born in Nigeria. Her father was Nigerian and her mother was British. When she was four years old, her mother took her to England, where she grew up.



Here she is singing "Your Love is King".



Your love is king, crown me with your heart
Your love is king, never need to part
Your kisses ring, round and round and round my head
Touching the very part of me
It's making my soul sing
Tearing the very heart of me
I'm crying out for more

Your love is king, crown me with my heart
Your love is king, never need to part
Your kisses ring, round and round and round my head
Touching the very part of me
It's making my soul sing
I'm crying out for more
Your love is king

I'm coming out, I'm coming
You're making me dance inside

Your love is king, crown me with my heart
Your love is king, never need to part
Your kisses ring, round and round and round my head
Touching the very part of me
It's making my soul sing
Tearing the very heart of me
I'm crying out for more

Touching the very heart of me
It's making my soul sing
I'm crying out for more
Your love is king

This is no blind faith
This is no sad and sorry dream
This is no blind faith
Your love
I'm coming
It's making me dance inside
Your love
Your love is king

Jennifer Holliday

Jennifer-Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960, Riverside, Texas) is a two-time Grammy Award-winning American singer and actress. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as Dreamgirls, and later became a successful recording artist. She is best known for her debut single, the Dreamgirls showstopper and Grammy Award-winning R&B/Pop hit, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going."

Here she is singing the song that made her famous. In the play, she just finds out that she is getting fired from the musical group, "The Dreamgirls" that she has been a part of. She also discovers that the man she loves doesn't love her anymore. Many people have tried to sing this song, including Jennifer Hudson in the movie, "Dreamgirls", but in my opinion, no one can sing it like Jennifer Holliday.



And I am telling you
I'm not going.
You're the best man I'll ever know.
There's no way I can ever go,
No, no, no, no way,
No, no, no, no way I'm livin' without you.
I'm not livin' without you.
I don't want to be free.
I'm stayin',
I'm stayin',
And you, and you, you're gonna love me.
Ooh, you're gonna love me.

And I am telling you
I'm not going,
Even though the rough times are showing.
There's just no way,
There's no way.
We're part of the same place.
We're part of the same time.
We both share the same blood.
We both have the same mind.
And time and time we have so much to share,


No, no, no,
No, no, no,
I'm not wakin' up tomorrow mornin'
And findin' that there's nobody there.
Darling, there's no way,
No, no, no, no way I'm livin' without you.
I'm not livin' without you.
You see, there's just no way,
There's no way.

Please don't go away from me
Stay with me, stay with me
Stay stay and hold me
Stay stay and hold me
Please say and hold me Mr. man

Tear down the mountains,
Yell, scream and shout.
You can say what you want,
I'm not walkin' out.
Stop all the rivers,
Push, strike, and kill.
I'm not gonna leave you,
There's no way I will.

And I am telling you
I'm not going.
You're the best man I'll ever know.
There's no way I can ever, ever go,
No, no, no, no way,
No, no, no, no way I'm livin' without you.
Oh, I'm not livin' without you,
I'm not livin' without you.
I don't wanna be free.
I'm stayin',
I'm stayin',
And you, and you,
You're gonna love me.
Oh, hey, you're gonna love me,
Yes, ah, ooh, ooh, love me,
Ooh, ooh, ooh, love me,
Love me,
Love me,
Love me,
Love me.
You're gonna love me.

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday (1915-1959) was a great American jazz and blues singer. She is an American legend. Her story inspired the 1972 film "Lady Sings the Blues" starring Diana Ross. Billie Holiday had a special way of interpreting each song she sang that still influences American pop music today. Unfortunately, she lived a sad and difficult life and died at the age of 44. You can read a short biography about Billie Holiday here.

Below is a video of her singing one of her famous songs. It is called "My Man"

Here are the lyrics. Read the lyrics first and then watch the video.

It cost me a lot
But theres one thing that I've got
It's my man
It's my man

Cold or wet
Tired, you bet
All of this I'll soon forget
With my man

He's not much on looks
He's no hero out of books
But I love him
Yes, I love him

Two or three girls
Has he
That he likes as well as me
But I love him

I don't know why I should
He isn't true
He beats me, too
What can I do?

Oh, my man, I love him so
He'll never know
All my life is just a spare
But I don't care
When he takes me in his arms
The world is bright
All right

What's the difference if I say
I'll go away
When I know I'll come back
On my knees someday

For whatever my man is
I'm his forevermore

Paul Robeson

Paul Robeson (1898-1973) was an African American actor, singer, athlete, lawyer and activist. Robeson was the first major concert star to make the performance of "negro spirituals" popular. Because Robeson was active in trade unions and fought against racism and fascism, he was a target during the anti-Communist scare in the United States in the 1940's and 1950's. His name was put on a "black list" and he was unable to find work. Here is a clip from a musical called "Showboat". You can read the lyrics of the song below. The song is called Old Man River. It is a song about how hard black people had to work and struggle.



Ol man river,
that ol' man river
He must know something
But don't say nothing,
He just keeps rolling
He keeps on rolling along.

He don't plant taters (potatoes),
He don't plant cotton,
And them that plants them
is soon forgotten,
But ol'man river,
He just keeps rollin'along.

You and me, we sweat and strain,
Body all aching and racked with pain,
Tote that barge!
Lift that bale!
Get a little drunk
And you land in jail.

I get weary
And sick of trying
I'm tired of living
And scared of dying,
But ol' man river,
He just keeps rolling along.

[Colored folks work on the Mississippi,
Colored folks work while the white folks play,
Pulling those boats from the dawn to sunset,
Gitting no rest till the judgement day.]

Don't look up
And don't look down,
You don't dast make
the white boss frown.
Bend your knees
And bow your head,
And pull that rope
Until you' dead.)

Let me go away from the Mississippi,
Let me go away from the white man boss;
Show me that stream called the river Jordan,
That's the ol' stream that I long to cross.

O' man river,
That ol' man river,
He must know something
But don't say nothing
He just keeps rolling
He keeps on rollin' along.

Long ol' river forever keeps rollin' on...

He don't plant tater,
He don't plant cotton,
And them that plants 'em
Is soon forgotten,
but ol' man river,
He just keeps rollin' along.

Long ol' river keeps hearing that song.
You and me, we sweat and strain,
Body all aching ang racked with pain.
Tote that barge!
Lift that bale!
Get a little drunk
And you land in jail.

Ah, get weary
And sick of trying
I'm tired of living
And scared of dying,
But ol' man river,
He just keeps rolling along!