“Love is the only force capable of turning an enemy into a friend”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
In my opinion, the political discourse in America has fallen into a sorry state. Basic human rights are being destroyed, our president seems to have little regard for the rule of law or common decency and all the while immigrant parents are getting deported when they drop their children off at school. Moreover, there seems to be a major disconnect in how we as a people are communicating with each other—in our attempts to engage with the world through social media, we have only succeeded in cloistering ourselves in the political-view echo-chamber of our choice.
I believe all people deserve love, respect and support to succeed because they are alive. That is why I tried to write lyrics that (hopefully) never went to the point of chastising, admonishing or attacking. Instead, trying to state simply the reasons why we must stand up for love, justice and equality.
“Stand Up” is a protest song that attempts to state plainly and simply why we MUST raise our voices to protect the rights of others: because they are worth it, because they are alive, because they are people.
-Colin ‘Response’ Pulkrabek
THANK YOU to Jon Hansen for providing the resources, support and patience this track required
THANK YOU to Rani Weatherby who delivered this song better than I could have ever dreamed
THANK YOU to Ehssan Karimi for using his loud loom to help us spin this flax into gold
THANK YOU to Lauren Hepburn for playing some mean baritone saxophone and supporting me when I got low
THANK YOU to Darian Asplund for tenor saxophone madness
THANK YOU to Andrew Pulkrabek for giving us a strong, supportive bass.
THANK YOU to my FAMILY who has been egging me on through this whole process
THANK YOU to my FRIENDS for inspiring me to write this protest song. Your presence on Earth is our true treasure.