A Song and Music Video Meant To Spark Dialogue Leading Up to the Elections
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PRURGENT
September 26, 2012 (New York, NY) – Emmy Award-winning composer and New York Times best-selling author, Peter Buffett has just released the provocative track “How Would You Know?” and its accompanying music video. Sampling Presidents Reagan, Bush (Sr. and W.), Clinton, and Obama, the song and video strive to point out that the leaders of our country are not saying anything new in respect to the ongoing issues we face as a nation.
To accompany his composition, Buffett masterfully intersperses sound bites from presidential speeches from the last thirty years; pointing out the repetition in political rhetoric. The video combines actual video clips from these speeches, along with powerful imagery and the song’s most impactful lyrics. The function of the track and video is to spark new conversation that will encourage voters to further consider which candidate might actually move our country forward, rather than defaulting to repetition. In fact, Buffett remarks, when pulling the clips from those speeches it is as though “they were almost completing each other’s sentences.”
The song’s compelling cover artwork features a merry-go-round; a symbol of the circular nature of politics and the fact that our nation’s elected officials seem to be saying and doing the same things over and over. As Mark Twain said, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes." The party symbols (elephant and donkey) riding each other reminds us that it seems to be more about having the power than doing anything with it. Buffett reminds us that leaders on both sides can get us in and out of wars, economic peril and political gridlock. And that choosing the "right" one may be much more difficult than voting along party lines.
More importantly, on the heels of National Voter Registration Day, Peter wants all of us to remember just how much our votes count. No matter the party line, we have the power to decide who will lead this country, and that’s a power we should not take for granted. Those who are not registered yet can do so here: www[dot]bit[dot]ly/PBRTV.
You can listen to “How Would You Know?” and watch the video by visiting www[dot]peterbuffett[dot]com/howwouldyouknow. Once there you can also read Peter’s essay on the topic, which was originally featured on his Change Our Story blog on Utne Reader’s site.
ABOUT PETER BUFFETT
Peter Buffett is an Emmy Award-winning composer, musician, author and philanthropist. As Co-chair of the NoVo Foundation with his wife, Jennifer, he has become a well-known activist for social concerns. Socially conscious music collaborations by Buffett include “Blood Into Gold,” featuring Grammy-nominated artist Akon and “A Song for Everyone” featuring Grammy-winning artist, Angelique Kidjo. Buffett is currently performing his “Life is What You Make It: A Concert & Conversation with Peter Buffett” series around the world to support his New York Times best-selling book, Life Is What You Make It (Random House/Harmony Books). The book has sold over a half million copies worldwide and has been translated in over fifteen languages. Peter recently created a forum at ChangeOurStory[dot]com to encourage his fans to evoke thought and conversation revolving around the idea that changing our fearful perspective on past experiences will allow us to choose what happens in our future. Through sharing his stories, personal thoughts, music, and more, Peter hopes to evoke conversation and ultimately inspire change. You can learn more about Peter at www[dot]peterbuffett[dot]com and more about “Change Our Story” at www[dot]changeourstory[dot]com.
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