Category: Ziyad

Various Artists | Expo 2020 Dubai Theme Song: This Is Our Time

ShareAmerica explains that “world Expos are global gatherings of nations that welcome tens of millions of visitors and include country pavilions that transform their host cities for years. The Dubai Expo will be the first held in the Middle East … The six-month event will open this month, following a one-year postponement because of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The USA Pavilion’s exhibits will include “moon rocks, a Mars rover and Thomas Jefferson’s Quran.”

Written by Joseph Dickinson and Lucy Torchia, the Expo’s expansive, anthemic theme “This Is Our Time” was recorded in on several continents: Las Vegas, Dubai, Macedonia, Egypt, and the UK. The primary performers were Emeratis Hussain Al Jassmi and Almas, as well as Mayssa Karaa, an American born in Beirut, Lebanon. The tune modulates up a whole step at 3:37.

Many thanks to our busy contributor Ziyad, who is from the UAE.

Anne Murray | A Little Good News Today

Canadian performer Anne Murray’s “A Little Good News” was written nearly four decades ago (1982), but its sentiment still resonates clearly today. “Written by Tommy Rocco, Charlie Black, and Rory Bourke, the heartfelt country ode finds Murray singing about one’s despair over the inhumanity, cruelty, and distress she often reads about in newspapers and hears on the news,” (CountryThangDaily). “Charlie Black remembered the day they wrote the song. The three songwriters were sitting around with their cup of coffee while watching [coverage about] the 1982 Lebanon War … and every news story was worse than the one past it, making them shake their heads of how bad things were. It was at that moment when Black said, ‘Wow, we sure could use a little good news today.’”

Anne Murray released the song in 1983 as the lead single from the album of the same name. A true crossover track, it reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, sustaining that rank for 20 weeks — but also reached #11 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart and #74 on Billboard Hot 100. The tune was awarded a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and the Country Music Association’s Single of the Year.

There’s an early unprepared half-step modulation at 1:39. Many thanks to Ziyad for another great submission!

Little River Band | Help Is On Its Way

On its website, Little River Band provides this overview: “The Eagles’ founding member, the late Glenn Frey, knew what he was saying when he dubbed Little River Band ‘the best singing band in the world.’ The current lineup of LRB takes that accolade to heart each and every time they perform. Through the ‘70s and ‘80s, LRB enjoyed huge chart success with multi-platinum albums and chart topping hits.”

“One of the first Australian bands to find widespread commercial success in America, Little River Band brought a polished, vocal-heavy pop sound to the late-’70s airwaves, melding the rich harmonies of the Eagles and Crosby, Stills & Nash with a bit of AOR drive and soft rock melodicism.” (AllMusic).

1977’s “Help is On Its Way” hit #1 in Australia and #14 in the US. The tune starts in B major, shifts to C major for the first chorus at 0:41, and then returns to B major for verse 2 at 0:59. There’s an early bridge at 1:35, suddenly diminished to only piano and few touches of percussion. The full groove is back at 2:06 with a brief guitar feature in G major; 2:25 brings us back to a verse in B major, with another shift to an C major chorus and then an extended B major outro.

Many thanks to first-time contributor Ziyad for this submission!