The Saldaña brothers in New York, trying to blend in.
Héctor Saldaña, bassist for The Krayolas, is a pissed off man.
“I’m sick and tired of the bigotry and racial divide that has been in the news all summer,” he told the Current via email. “The politics of hate has got to stop.”
Instead of just rightfully bitching about it, he decided to channel his frustration into creating something positive, so he chose the day of his birthday (August 18) to record “We The People,” an anthem against prejudice that echoes the message sent by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
He finished the song while on tour on the East Coast with The Krayolas and recorded it at Joe Treviño’s Blue Cat Studios with the help of Louie Bustos and Al Gómez (West Side Horns). This is an early mix of the song, which by the time the “I Have a Dream” speech celebrates its 50th anniversary on Wednesday, August 28, should have a backbeat and percussion added to it.
“I feel we’re making a stand with the record and we are asking everyone to take a moment and reflect on what MLK’s speech was all about,” Saldaña said.
Here’s the deal: you get the song for free at SoundCloud or at The Krayolas’ website, and all you have to do is share the song with as many people as possible, so on August 28 the MLK/Krayolas cloud of good vibes is so big the spirit of MLK can be felt in the air (hashtag: #ShareTheDream).
“We are asking for anyone that believes in MLK ’63 to share the link of the song on Facebook, Twitter, etc.,” said Saldaña. “It’s a simple message. It’s a heartfelt one on my end.”
You’re not alone, brother.
Here’s the lyrics to “We The People”:
We the people getting stronger
We the people getting strong
We the people singing louder
We the people sing our song
We the people talking louder
We the people talking loud
We the people standing prouder
We the people standing proud
You don’t like
That ain’t right
You’re on the wrong side of history
You don’t like
That ain’t right
You’re on the wrong side of history
We the people have the power
We the people have the pow!
We the people have the power
We the people have the pow!
You don’t like
That ain’t right
You’re on the wrong side of history
You don’t like it
Go fly a kite
You’re on the wrong side of history
We the people have the power
We the people have the pow!
We the people have the power
We the people have the pow!
You don’t like it
That ain’t right
You’re on the wrong side of history
You don’t like it
Go fly a kite
You’re on the wrong side of history
We the people overcoming
We the people shall overcome
We the people overcoming
We the people shall overcome
We the people freedom riders
We the people free at last
We the people freedom riding
We the people free at last
We the people getting higher
We the people getting high
We the people shining brighter
We the people shining bright
We the people have the numbers
We the people see the light
We the people
We the people
We the people
This article appears in Aug 21-27, 2013.