Author: Mary Neil

It used to be that when immigrants came to Ontario, Canada, they would move to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) for some time to establish themselves before moving anywhere else. But that’s not the case anymore. Kitchener-Waterloo has become a “secondary gateway” region for new Canadians. That means our diversity is growing at a rapid rate…which is exciting for many reasons. It boosts our economy, diversifies our talent, and increases our cultural value for starters.

And this shift has happened quickly.

Do we as residents of this region realize what’s happening? Do we realize the phenomenon of this cultural shift in our community?

This song, We are Strong People (Shaabu al-kifah), is part of an intercultural project designed to explore and increase awareness of this phenomenon in a musical form. Through an online survey, I began by learning from members of the Syrian community about the beauty of their culture, tradition, and musical styles. The goal was to capture these thoughts in a song. I worked alongside Syrian musicians to create this music.

I remembered seeing a Facebook post a month or so earlier that kept coming to the top of my mind when I had a moment to clear my thoughts. It was a photo of a bench in downtown Kitchener. I could recall it clear as day – someone has inscribed a message on the bench that read, “Please everybody stop Reviving me when i O.D. i O.D. on purpose 4 A Reason that I don’t want to talk about.”

This message hit me hard. I didn’t want people feeling so alone and dying on our streets. I didn’t want people to only feel lifted up through getting high. As a musician, I wasn’t sure what I could do about this reality in my community but I felt compelled to do something about it.

Having been in school for eight straight years at this point (I finished a Master of Arts in Geography before the one for Community Music), I did what any good studious researcher would do. I started to read – A LOT. I read the recommendations and the controversy around the proposed Region of Waterloo safe consumption site. I read reports and statistics on the opioid crisis afflicting our community, and many others.

Then, I went out into the community and I spoke with many people. I spoke with the Rector of the church where the bench was located. I spoke with local politicians. I spoke with residents around the downtown core. I spoke with community organizations working to battle this growing crisis. I spoke directly with Region of Waterloo employees and coordinating the safe consumption site. I spoke to recovering addicts. I listened to podcasts of people who are battling addiction.

On a long drive back from a gig, with all those thoughts about everything I had read and heard swirling through my head, a melody washed over me. I recorded it into my voice recorder.

When I got home, I took a long hard look at that photo…and I put myself in J.C.’s shoes. Now, I will re-iterate that I lived a sheltered life and do not presume to fully understand J.C.’s path or what lead J.C. to the moment of need to write an inscription in such a public venue. I did, however, understand some of the elements of what lead J.C. to that moment. I understood loneliness. I understood that life might not quite turn out the way you hoped despite your best efforts. I understood how sometimes it is hard to cope with the cards life has dealt you and you find the mechanisms to survive.

We all share the same emotions. We all need the same things – love, belonging, food, shelter. Some of us are fortunate – and maybe a bit of luck – that we had opportunity, means, and support to follow the path we did and have what we have. And, in reality, some are not.

At the end of the day, we are all human.

I spent a day writing the lyrics to go with that melody that came to me on that long drive home. And I’m not going to lie, I cried…A LOT. It was a deep, dark place that I’m not accustomed to visiting. A place of sadness, loneliness, despair.

And that is how the song, Lifted High, was created. And it inspired me to think about creating music in community. I certainly don’t have the hard hitting life experience to write songs about. But I live in a community of people who have those experiences. And sometimes their stories go unheard and unnoticed.

I wondered how I could get songs like this produced and distributed broadly. I wanted to provide people with a compelling medium through music to share their narratives and spread the word about what is happening in our community. I looked at different granting opportunities and I noticed that the Canada Council of the Arts had an upcoming deadline in 14 days!

I scrambled and got some amazing musicians together to help arrange and record a rough demo of Lifted High in 8 hours.