By Laura Ferreiro
Rock band OneRepublic have turned a heartbeat into a backbeat to draw attention to Save the Children’s “Every Beat Matters” campaign. The Denver-based rockers wrote the song “Feel Again” — which features the heartbeats of young children as its driving rhythm — in support of the non-profit’s national campaign, which emphasizes the importance of funding frontline health workers in the world’s poorest countries.
The band used a recording of heartbeats from young people in Malawi and Guatemala – all of whom have been helped by health workers trained by Save the Children — to create the tune, which reminds people that the child mortality problem can be solved. What’s more, proceeds from the download of the song will support the campaign.
“(Save the Children’s) primary objective is to protect children’s rights around the world,
whether its from illness, deaths from completely preventable diseases, and things in any modern western country wouldn’t even be an issue, it struck a chord with me,” OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder says in a video about the campaign. “Anything that involves kids being subjected to things that are completely unnecessary hits me in the gut.”
Tedder adds that the heartbeats provided the perfect structure for the song. “I was sent a file with a bunch of children’s heartbeats from Malawi and Guatemala,” he explains. “I think it was a serendipitous moments because these kids – a lot of them had heartbeats that ranged between 130 and 140 beats a minute – so from a musical perspective, that was like the perfect tempo.”
Mary Beth Powers, chief of Save the Children’s newborn and child survival campaign, says that working with OneRepublic is a great way to spread the word about the campaign and encourage people to get involved. “The power of working with a band like OneRepublic, is they have a huge global audience, and they’re really committed and hard working,” Powers tells Music for Good. “They have a sense of the kind of difference and power their voice can have on ending the tragedy of preventable child deaths. Ryan traveled with us to Guatemala and saw some of the health workers who visit newborn babies and treat childhood illnesses. It really affected him as the father of a two-year-old.”
Powers – who has visited more than 40 countries with Save the Children — points out that she has seen first-hand the tremendous difference that training qualified health workers in communities throughout the world has made in improving the health of children. “You really see such remarkable differences (in these countries),” she says. “Most Americans will never have the chance to see that. ‘Every Beat Matters’ helps people see that this change is possible. We’re also asking the U.S. government to continue its leadership and continue to fund programs around the world.”
Check out the video for “Feel Again” below, and download the song here to support the Every Beat Matters campaign. You can also get involved by writing to Congress and joining the campaign here.
OneRepublic: “Feel Again”