One Voice Children’s Choir is a Utah-based choir that seeks to inspire
people “through the power of children’s voices”.
The choir has its
origins in the run-up to the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002.
Responding to a call for local songwriters to contribute songs for the
upcoming Games, Masa Fukuda co-wrote a song with Jeannine Lasky
To record the song (It Just Takes Love), Fukuda managed to gather
1,621 pupils from 69 elementary schools.
The song was accepted for
children’s choir that is now over 20 years old. Here is a great song from
3 years ago.
What about Us? is a cover of a song Pink released on her 2017 album
Beautiful Trauma. The song is open-ended – Gil Kaufman of Billboard
wrote that the lyrics can be read as “commenting on the state of the
world, or the state of the heart”, while Faith Pot interprets the One Voice
Children’s Choir version as a commentary on the circumstances of
children from broken homes. In interviews, Pink has punted the more
political reading of the song that she co-wrote with Johnny McDaid and
Steve Mac
Speaking to Vulture, Pink said the song has an inclusive message for
people around the globe who feel marginalised. She has also explained
the song as being a reaction to the election of Donald Trump as
President of the US. The basic message – “what about us?” – is
particularly poignant when sung by a children’s choir. Leena Azzam
comments “The way the girl held the other one’s hand and said ‘we are
children that need to be loved’ then they all replied ‘we need love’ ..
THAT got me.”
What about Us? has an impressive 18M YouTube views. This is far
eclipsed by One Voice Children’s Choir’s most popular song, a cover of
Rihanna’s hit Diamonds. Written by Sia, Benny Blanco and Stargate,
Diamonds was the lead single from Rihanna’s album Unapologetic
(2012). The single reached the #1 spot on music charts in more than 20
countries including the US and the UK. It is a mid-tempo track with a
sound that is less brash than Rihanna’s more anthemic, up-tempo
Diamonds is a song about romantic love. It includes the lines “You’re a
shooting star I see, a vision of ecstasy/ When you hold me, I’m alive,
we’re like diamonds in the sky.”
For the One Voice Children’s Choir
version, “beauty” is substituted for “ecstasy” and “When you’re near
Me” replaces “When you hold me”. While these changes dial back the
passion, for those that know the Rihanna original it can be a bit
disconcerting to hear a children’s choir singing what is essentially an
adult song. This quibble aside, the choir is in fine voice, as always. I’m
particularly partial to the way that the choir sings the “shine bright like a
diamond” hook.