In 2018 Spike Lee said on National TV “Let’s Make America Love Again”
“I want to make America love again, make America love again
Make America – don’t know when – before it’s too late“
WHAT HAPPENS IN AMERICA AFFECTS THE WHOLE WORLD: From my home in London in 2018 I watched Spike Lee on TV, I was moved and I was shocked. America has suffered and is suffering these days. I realised that I wanted to do something, because what happens in America affects us in the UK, in Europe in Africa, Asia and the whole of the world. That night at 3am I awoke with a lyric and a tune in my head. I went to my piano in my night clothes, I waited, the tune, the white and the black notes came as if from outside myself. As I waited the words emerged, all at once, as if I already knew them. I didn’t have to think, I felt like a channel between the infinite and the tangible. Many songwriters and artists talk about this extraordinary moment when inspiration appears apparently out of nowhere, when creation seems effortless. This was my experience that night.
These moments are not isolated , they are grounded, they are the culmination of many years of experiences, feelings, musical activity and reflection about politics and the world. There is sometimes a moment in life when everything comes together, when purpose and meaning merge – forming something new and unexpected: the unknown becomes the known, dark matter becomes visible. I cannot escape the significance of this moment. This project has taken over my life and the others in the team for the last two years.
