You’re Most Welcome, Countryman Fans…

2009-03-14T16:09:00.007-06:00

On behalf of everyone on the Electric Caravan, thanks so much for your enthusiastic support in our first few days on line. Here’s a sample of your messages – but please keep them coming!

From Antony:
Fantastic job with both the song and the video. You've cut through all the complex international politics that we see in the press each day when Afghanistan is covered and focused on the critical fact that the people of Afghanistan need peace. Encapsulating it in a great song, with such a diverse group of musicians is a brilliant way of doing it. I look forward to adding it to the iPod!

From Karen:
Fabulous! I sent the link to my sister, and I'll keep sending it far and wide. Congratulations!

From Mahmud:
I wanted to say that the song is wonderful. The words and pictures combine to make a very strong image and puts depth to your song. I hope you write more songs like this one. I am sure many Afghans would tune in.

From Joe:
The song is great and I hope that it both raises funds where they will do some good, and raises awareness of the fallacy of anyone imposing their will on the Afghan people.

From Tim:
Very moving and that's all I can say. Sincere thanks!

From MK:
Oh, what a song! What feeling, and just beautiful scenes of the kids. Thank you, you’ve filled my heart with a bigger hope.

That hope’s infectious – why not take another listen at “the song” page, then head over to “contact” and have us send you an mp3 of Countryman (Freedom From War). We really can rock the warlords, but those guns are loud - we've gotta drown 'em with downloads!

A Note on the Countryman Video…

2009-03-03T16:03:00.005-07:00

The sequences and photographs you see in the Countryman video span three decades of conflict in Afghanistan.

Soviet helicopter gunships of the 1980’s fly through the frame, as do Chinooks of today’s U.S. forces. An American A-10 takes to the sky, followed by an archive shot of a Russian SU-25 ground attack plane, soaring behind a forest of burial flags.

Try to spot the Afghan guerrillas of the Soviet war era – can you tell them apart from the Taliban and al Qaeda figures interspersed in the sequences?

Many Afghans no longer see the combatants as discernible friends or foes, not after 31 years of continual warfare. To them, the conflict and all its warriors add up to a single, terrible entity, a deadly threat that suffocates their families’ hopes of peace.

Yet the Afghans don’t give up, despite the failure of the world's great powers to secure stability. Will the "internationals" finally get their priorities straight this year, and begin making tangible progress towards success in Afghanistan? That's still unclear.

All we know for sure is that "freedom from war" is not just Countryman's refrain. It's the goal that must be achieved, and not only for the Afghans, but for any of us who claim to want to embrace peace, and make it our own.

Countryman Blog

You’re Most Welcome, Countryman Fans…

A Note on the Countryman Video…