Diary entry 39

Fri, 20 June 2003

Dear Friends,

I'm writing to you all from New York right now, where I ambusy recording parts of the new Chinese, Japanese, and English albums. It's good to be back home with my family.The big news here is that Lee-kai is graduating from high school next week and will be attending MIT in the fall.I can't believe my little brother has grown up so fast!To be honest, my diary these days might read something like this: Today I came up with a cool guitar part for one song and recorded it,and then threw away the lyrics to another song and decided to write a whole new set AGAIN...blah, blah, blah,but you haven't heard these songs yet, so it would be premature to start talking about them now. Instead, I'll talk about something that happened recentlyin my life that was extraordinary. It is a song called, "Hand in Hand".On May 12, my good friend David Tao and I were approached by AZIO TV to write and produce a song to help alleviate the SARS situation in Asia. We sat down and decided that what the people really needed, and what we could provide to combat this virus was not charity money, but rather education and awareness of how to stop the spread of SARS. At the time, we felt in particular that people were not being responsible to the community because they were afraid. People disobeyed government quarantines, escaping from hospitals and cordoned off sections of the streets. We felt that this "battle", in order to be won as quickly as possible,needed everyone working together as a team. Therefore, those are the messages of "Hand in Hand": teamwork and the reassurance to not be afraid.David and I wrote the song the next day, and gave the demo to AZIO, who then distributed the song to every Chinese singer who was interested in being part of this project. It turned out to be a whopping 85 of the most popular talents of today and legendary singers of past generations.It was so humbling and awe-inspiring to know that this song would bring so many great artists together to do something for our community.From writing, to arranging, to recording, to turning in the final mixed song, we took all of 7 days. I've never worked so fast and slept so little in a week! All I can remember is going home and crying in my Taipei apartment while listening to the finished product in my computer. It was just an overwhelming feeling of 1,000 emotions all at once.Sometimes we get used to reducing music to sonic furniture, something in your room, placed there to make a fashion statement, or because it just feels comfortable. The danger of this is that it makes us forget to strive for something more than just furniture because the audience is liking it. So seldom do we get a chance like this one, to really make a difference with our music.The whole experience of "Hand in Hand" reminded me of the power of music. The power to communicate, and bring people together in harmony, the power to release some of that nuclear magic from inside the human spirit."Hand in Hand" reminded me of why I am a musician.For me, this song will always be one of the highlights of my career.

Love, Peace, and Music,

Leehom