In the summer of 2015 Rob Watling, an old friend from England, sent me a song text he was working on. It was prompted by the news that approx. 700 people had drowned during the night in an attempt to reach Europe from the coast of Libya in an unseaworthy boat. His text puts the refugee crisis in a wider historical context. After all, it's not the first time that desperate people undertake perilous journeys, for whatever reason.
I started work on a tune and in August Rob came over to Norway so that we could put the finishing touches to the song.
In September I went to the Koster Islands in Sweden to record the song at the studio of double bass-player, sound engineer and all-round wonderful bloke Putte Johander. With the help of him, musicians Patrik Wingård and Sunniva Brynnel and backing vocals from Cecilie Wingård, Karolina Wingård and Johanna Johander, we made a recording of the song.
Everyone worked for nothing.
Later Rob has worked hard at putting together a video, using photos and film clips that have either been donated to the project or are in the public domain.
It remains to be seen what the project will lead to. We are trying to make it available to refugee organizations to use as they wish.
Here's the video anyway. The song is also available on iTunes and on streaming services.