Music has been holding out the message of hope and cheer in these troubling times. From big names to the man on the street, music has become a great unifier as people try to come to terms with how a virus has upended their world.
At the start of the lockdown in the State, Kanal Inspires, the creative wing of Kanal, a non-governmental organisation that conducts awareness programmes at schools and colleges and opens reading spaces in rural areas, launched a campaign ‘Break the Chain with Music’.
The idea was to bring out cover versions of 50 popular songs, both old and new, to help beat the lockdown blues.
Earlier, Kanal Inspires had put mood tapes of original songs sung again by singers they knew on Instagram.
The ‘Break the Chain with Music’ campaign was built on the foundation of the mood tapes so that people could embrace positivity and resilience while staying inside their homes and put the time they unexpectedly had on their hands to good use by posting cover versions of songs.
Soothing videos
The project was inspired by mood tapes series of Ron Roy who pioneered the use of sounds of nature to make soothing videos and audio collectibles, says the Kanal team.
They planned to post five songs each day, beginning April 3, on their Facebook page and YouTube. Most of the videos were sent by their acquaintances.
The songs had minimum background music and, if needed, nature sounds were added to them. Visuals, again mostly that of nature, accompanied the songs.
The cover versions posted, mostly melodies, include Devanganangal, Lag Jaa Gale, Thaniye Mizhikal, Thira nurayum churul mudiyil, Ekla Cholo Re, and so on.
Composer Jassie Gift and singer Mridula Warrier have sent videos supporting the initiative.
After they reached the target within 10 days, Kanal Inspires decided to carry on the campaign with one song a day as the pandemic has not yet gone away. And, the songs keep coming.
