Why I Recorded Yes We Can

I was sitting in my recording studio watching the debates...
Torn between the candidates

I was never really big on politics...
and actually I'm still not big on politics...

The outcome of the last 2 elections has saddened me...
on how unfair, backwards, upside down, unbalanced, untruthful,
corrupt, and just simply, how wrong the world and "politics" are...

So this year i wanted to get involved and do all i could early...

And i found myself torn...
because this time it's not that simple...
our choices aren't as clear as the last elections ...
last time it was so obvious...
Bush and war
vs
no Bush and no war...

But this time it's not that simple...
and there are a lot of people that are torn just like i am...

So for awhile I put it off and i was going to wait until it was decided for me...

And then came New Hampshire...

And i was captivated...

Inspired...

I reflected on my life...
and the blessings I have...
and the people who fought for me to have these rights and blessings...

and I'm not talking about a "black thing"
I'm talking about a "human thing" me as a "person"
an American...

That speech made me think of Martin Luther King...
Kennedy...
and Lincoln...
and all the others that have fought for what we have today...

what America is "supposed" to be...

freedom...
equality...
and truth...

and thats not what we have today...
we think we are free...
but in reality terror and fear controls our decisions...

this is not the America that our pioneers and leaders fought and
died for...

and then there was New Hampshire

it was that speech...
like many great speeches...
that one moved me...
because words and ideas are powerful...

It made me think...
and realize that today we have "very few" leaders...
maybe none...

but that speech...

it inspired me...
it inspired me to look inside myself and outwards towards the world...
it inspired me to want to change myself to better the world...
and take a "leap" towards change...
and hope that others become inspired to do the same...
change themselves..
change their greed...
change their fears...
and if we "change that"
"then hey"..
we got something right...???...

1 week later after the speech settled in me...
I began making this song...
I came up with the idea to turn his speech into a song...
because that speech affected and touched my inner core like nothing in a very long time...

it spoke to me...

because words and ideas are powerful...

I just wanted to add a melody to those words...
I wanted the inspiration that was bubbling inside me to take over...

so i let it..

I wasn't afraid to stand for something...
to stand for "change"...
I wasn't afraid of "fear"...
it was pure inspiration...

so I called my friends...
and they called their friends...
in a matter of 2 days...
We made the song and video...

Usually this process would take months...
a bunch of record company people figuring out strategies and release dates...
interviews...
all that stuff...
but this time i took it in my own hands...
so i called my friends Sarah Pantera, Mike Jurkovac, Fred Goldring, and Jesse Dylan to help make it happen...
and they called their friends..
and we did it together in 48 hours...
and instead of putting it in the hands of profit we put it in the hands of inspiration...

then we put it on the net for the world to feel...

When you are truly inspired..
magic happens...
incredible things happen...
love happens..
(and with that combination)

"love, and inspiration"

change happens...

"change for the better"
Inspiration breeds change...

"Positive change"...

no one on this planet is truly experienced to handle the obstacles we face today...
Terror, fear, lies, agendas, politics, money, all the above...
It's all scary...

Martin Luther King didn't have experience to lead...
Kennedy didn't have experience to lead...
Susan B. Anthony...
Nelson Mandela...
Rosa Parks...
Gandhi...
Anne Frank...
and everyone else who has had a hand in molding the freedoms we have and take for granted today...

no one truly has experience to deal with the world today...

they just need "desire, strength, courage ability, and passion" to change...
and to stand for something even when people say it's not possible...

America would not be here "today" if we didn't stand and fight for
change "yesterday"...
Everything we have as a "people" is because of the "people" who fought for
change...
and whoever is the President has to realize we have a lot of changing to do

I'm not trying to convince people to see things how i do...
I produced this song to share my new found inspiration and how I've been moved...
I hope this song will make you feel...
love...
and think...
and be inspired just like the speech inspired me...

that's all...

Let's all come together like America is supposed to...
Like Japan did after Hiroshima...

that was less than 65 years ago...
and look at Japan now...

they did it together...
they did it...

"We can't?...

Are you serious..?..

WE CAN!!!

Yes we can...
A United "America"
Democrats, Republicans and Independents together...
Building a new America

We can do it...
"TOGETHER"

Thank you for reading and listening...
will.i.am

Comments

[westtexasboy]

more than 5 million views, and still counting!

[human12]

It is such a commentary that someone who comes along and offers what many perceive to be real hope touches this visceral nerve with so many. We are starved for real hope. I want to vote for Obama and I may. I'm in the process of "adjusting" as much as I can on issues to see if that's possible. One thing I don't need to adjust is the conviction that this is a man of integrity, hope, and leadership. My sincere compliments on this video. It inspires me and makes me want to inspire.

[SeriousBlack]

Great post! Thanks Will!

[dawninmi]

Though I do not agree that the next president, who ever it should be, will mean 'no war', I am deeply moved by your words and song. I have been a supporter of Sen. Obama's for some time now. I'm glad to see that so many others are inspired by him as much as I am.

I know we can.

[editrix66]

Thank you for this video. Someone e-mailed it to me, and I was not prepared for the emotional impact of it. It is lovely and moving. I've watched it many times now, and it always gets me.

[Jeffersonian1]

As somebody who grew up a poor white country boy and who through luck, the hard work of his parents and some of his own got a good education and has managed to write a few speeches for Senators and Governors, I think I tend sometimes to blather on too much.

A'int but one thing to say about this:

Magnificent.

Thank you.

[loislane88]

Awesome song and video. Kudos to you and everyone involved on the project. Thank you.

[Brianimator]

A moving and thoughtful effort on your part, Will. The video has really blown up, and you and your fellow artists prove once again that it's all about WE. Can WE make a difference? Can WE make our voices heard?

Yes we can!

[ButterflyWeed]

Thank you will.i.am for capturing and gifting us with the "epiphany" that is us coming together through our shared love for homeland. Ironically, it was my own son William that brought me to hear Barack's announcement speech on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield. Yes We Can in small ways and big! Much love to you, sir.

[mogul456]

great video- it will put Obama over the top.

[pennyronning]

Will.i.am, thank you, thank you, thank you for NOT making this a race or male/female thing. THANK YOU for making it an AMERICAN thing. Your video is inspired and I, too, was very moved by Barack's speech (me, an "undecided"). I believe it will be recorded in history as one of the greatest speeches EVER. That said, Will.i.am, what has moved me even more are the words YOU just wrote. I'm a white woman in my 40's and I feel like you just pulled those words right out of MY heart. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

[Buckzollo]

Will.i.am Mazel Tov on this milestone. Pure inspiration. I will never again confuse you will Wyclef. M a s t e r f u l
Yes you did!

[sfbayani]

Thank you for your writing.
It is as inspiring as Obama's speech and YES WE CAN. You are right to say, it is not usually the experience that spells leadership - as a lot of Hillary-philes would say which in a way minimizes Obama's community organizing work (in my book, that is real people experience!) - but the inspiration a true leader engenders in us. When an individual inspires his/her people to move and act - that is leadership. When Senator Obama speaks, I am moved to tears first, then I think and reflect, and act to inspire change in others.

[deedrdo]

will.i.am: his speech might have reminded you less of lincoln, JFK and MLK had you been something other than "not really big on politics". the phrase was co-opted from cesar chavez's 1974 united farm workers labor movement, "si, se puede!".

i agree that his speech was inspiring. but i think props should be given to chavez who did more for working americans than obama ever dreamed of.

[sugarmoes]

until
the philosophy
which holds one man superiour
and another
inferior
is finally
and permanently
discredited
and abandoned
everywhere is war...
me say war...

yes we can... discredit and abandon that philosophy.