The Story Behind the Song: Change the World
Let’s take things BACK TO THE BEGINNING. I guess you could say it was around my 25th birthday… 😂😂 LOL! What I mean is that it took me 25 years to become ENLIGHTENED. Enlightened to the fact that I could use the power of MUSIC to CHANGE THE WORLD.
Oddly enough, it took me traveling half-way across the planet ✈🌍 to make this discovery. I was in Cameroon, Africa, on a summer volunteer trip with my wife, Mallory. Our purpose was to assist an environmental NGO called ‘The Greens’ educate youth about the importance of environmentalism. Boy, was I in for a SURPRISE!
Our first day in Cameroon 🇨🇲, a beautiful welcoming gathering was held for us by our host, Franklin and his family. There was lots of food, socializing, and of course, MUSIC. A young man named Awu was the featured performer, strumming his old guitar 🎸 and belting out BEAUTIFUL MELODIES for everyone in attendance.
Just a few months prior to this volunteer trip, I had begun REFLECTING DEEPLY 🤔 on my PURPOSE in life. I decided that I wanted to judge my worth as a human being on what kind of DIFFERENCE I was making in the lives of others. Inspired by my newfound purpose, one morning I spontaneously wrote some poetry 📜🖊 and converted it into to rap lyrics. “These lyrics are pretty inspiring…”, I thought to myself. However, lacking confidence in my ability, as well as having no musical resources, I put the lyrics away and moved on. That’s until I came to Cameroon…
After seeing Awu touch the hearts of everyone at the welcome gathering, I decided to ask Franklin if he thought Awu might be interested in checking out my rap lyrics. Franklin’s response SIGNIFICANTLY ALTERED my life’s trajectory.
“You’re a rapper?! Why didn’t you tell me this before?! We have a new objective to add to your volunteer duties! You and Awu are making a song together!”
Franklin’s ENTHUSIASM and ENCOURAGEMENT are what I needed in that moment to move forward. He arranged a meeting for Awu and I the next day. To begin our session, I showed Awu my rap lyrics on a piece notebook paper. I watched in anticipation as he read through them. Awu’s response was another DIVINE CONFIRMATION.
“Wow. These are good lyrics. Let me see what I can do with them…”
Awu then used his gift of melody to put those NOW-FAMOUS LYRICS into a chorus. “I can, you can, we can change the world!” 🎶
Over the following weeks, there were so many CLEAR SIGNS to let me know I was on the RIGHT PATH. My mind was AWAKENING and my soul was DISCOVERING the talent I had been given to use WORDS to INSPIRE.
My first musical performance was later that summer. Awu and I visited a local orphanage with The Greens, and we performed our new song, ‘Change the World’, for the children. My initial FEELINGS OF NERVOUSNESS quickly subsided as I saw the faces of the children LIGHT UP as they heard the words in the chorus. “I can, you can, we can change the world!” And then they quickly joined in and sang along. You could feel the ENERGY shift! It’s a memory I’ll NEVER FORGET.🙏🏽
We later created a music video for ‘Change the World’ that highlighted a beautiful cross-section of humanity and aimed to inspire people to BE THE CHANGE, no matter where they live. The video has gone on to receive over 100,000 views, reaching audiences all over the world!
Since then, I’ve gone on to make a lot more music, perform in front of thousands of fans, and meet a lot of really amazing people! But the thing that continues to DRIVE MY CREATIVITY is knowing that, through music, I can inspire people. And that if my aim is to SERVE HUMANITY, the doors will continue to open and the path made clear.
I thank God and the Universe that I discovered this UNDENIABLE TRUTH before I picked up a pen and started writing music. I hope my story and music inspires you to discover your own INNER-GEMS and use them to make the world a BETTER PLACE!
If you’d like to hear some of the other creations that came from my international collaboration with Awu, click here to listen to our album ‘Change the World’.
So how do you change the world? How did you discover your passion? I’d love to hear your testimony in the comments section below!
Be The Change,
-Colby
I cried listening to you both – I am 73, been around the block a few times and have pursued inner freedom, compassion and peace throughout my life. You give me real hope!!
Eve