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United Nations and Culture of Peace Global Movement for a Culture of Peace Values, Attitudes, Actions

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	The Story of Peacesong an article by Mark It started modestly enough. A war began. Three songs were written. They were recorded, on a shoestring, 2 takes a piece. Raw, unsweetened, unmastered. An internet domain was secured. The simplest site was developed. The domain name; the song titles. Click and download. Nothing more. www.peacesong.com As I write this note, if one goes to GOOGLE, and conducts a web search for 'peace song', this is the #1 site -- the most linked to and trafficked in that category. And therein lies a story or shall I say stories? First, it’s an Internet story. The glory of distributing music to thousands around the world without record companies, labels, CD’s, press kits, agents, promoters. Just the songs. Second, it’s a freedom of speech story. It would never find a home on the media; it has never been written up in the press. The site gets linked to. People get the songs. The word gets spread. Period. Third, it’s a story written by an audience of strangers. E-mails from everywhere: France, Australia, Berkeley, Oklahoma, Beirut. Schoolchildren, war veterans, college professors, activists,etc. Fourth, it is a story of a citizen/activist. Part of the community of dissent, it does not have a glossy, a sheath of praise, a curriculum vitae. Only thousands of links in cyber space. And fifth, it’s a story of invitations. To play the War Trilogy, to sing other classic protest songs, to tell funny stories of finding oneself with a top-rated web site, to read the letters that arrive. Benefits for United for Peace and Justice, for the Westchester Peace Action Committee, played in meeting rooms, sanctuaries, etc. I still remember a note from a veteran asking me what unit I had served in. He said that ‘Baghdad Road’ was the most authentic song he had heard about the lunacy of combat. I had not served. But I had read stories and people had told me stories and through that miracle, which you should understand so well, I had found myself within that experience. That is the story of PeaceSong. Good luck with your project!		DISCUSSION Question(s) related to this article: What place does music have in the peace movement?, * * * * * Latest reader comment: As of now, there are 33 CPNN articles on this theme, which shows the great extent to which music is the universal language of peace!
This report was posted on June 3, 2004.