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Hello...this is Clifton Coates. What I will share in the following pages is hopefully, a direct reflection of what I have had the opportunity to experience first hand on my journey. The music that I write and record I have purposefully geared toward the social conscious, because I feel that my music is first and foremost, "Music for the Conscience." The books that I am writing are designed to move individuals towards finding inside of themselves that light that has been covered up by skin and soul.
There was a time in our world, which is getting smaller and smaller as we are able to communicate across the globe, when neighbors and parents could rely on raising their children with the help and the spirit of community. When our collective communities began to allow events to alienate us from each other and from the world at large, many songwriters took up the challenge to write music and lyrics that would heal our souls. Whatever the subject; the Women's Suffrage Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, apartheid, racism, communism, a woman’s right to choose, environmental issues or global warming--songwriters have used their words as a guiding light for the collective international consciousness.
The songs in my first collection, titled, “I Wish We All Could Be Together,” are reminiscent of the call for social change, idealism and spiritual values that was found in the music and lyrics of 60s and 70s bands. Singers and songwriters from those bands and groups lent their collective voice to effect change during times of political and social unrest.
With the CD, “I Wish We All Could Be Together “ I am attempting to afford the listener with a unique opportunity to return lyrically and musically to contemporary offerings in consciousness raising music. This recording revives the tradition of musical activism, with a return to “live studio performance.” The CD will take you back to an era of songs that emphasized the importance of love, peace, togetherness and cooperation. These songs focus on sharing a greater understanding of the power that emerges and prevails when opposing parties make an effort to work together for the greater good. |
