ORIGIN
When the murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade. Nina Pop, George Floyd, and countless others sparked a global uprising, I faced the harsh reality that as an Asian American woman, I am both a beneficiary of white privilege, and victim of systemic racism.
Understanding that I have much more to learn and to do, I started to research some of the beloved lives that have been lost to systemic racism. I came across an interview of Breonna Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, speaking about her daughter’s life. Songs have always been a safe haven for me to process what is happening to me and around me, so as I listened to her speak, tears and lyrics started pouring out of me.
When the clutter of the voices and disagreements in our country about race get too loud, I zoom in on the idea of one family. One child. One life. One dining table. One kitchen. One empty bed. I think of how each number in the statistics of lives lost is somebody’s first call–somebody’s whole world.
I reached out to my collaborator Adio Marchant, aka Bipolar Sunshine, who co-wrote my previous single, If I Ruled the World to see if the song resonated with him. Adio’s experiences of losing his beloved to systemic racism informed the rest of the lyrics and added essential love, understanding and energy into the song.
COLLABORATORS
BIPOLAR SUNSHINE
Based in Los Angeles, but raised in Manchester by Jamaican parents, Adio Marchant creates poetic social tales of love and loss under the name Bipolar Sunshine. Adio’s sound is genre-defying, uniting, and with the euphoric highs of pop, the emotional resonanace of hip hop, and the uplifting spirit of a gospel choir.
Previously the co-vocalist with the Manchester band Kid British, Adio embarked on a solo career in 2013. Before reaching top 20 on Billboard’s Hot 100 on tracks with DJ Snake (“Middle”) and Gryffin (“Whole Heart”), Adio debuted his solo EP, Aesthetics, in 2013. Adio’s “Where Did the Love Go” was featured on BBC Radio’s 1’s playlist. His song “Daydreamer” was used in BBC One’s 2015 trailer and the track became arguably his most successful single to date, peaking at no. 67 in the UK Downloads Chart.
THE SOMEBODY'S BELOVED CHOIR
Consisting of 7 LatinX, Black, South Asian, White and Indigenous voices—a unified honoring of the beloved lost to systemic racism.
Ijeoma Njaka
Allison Hill
Mastered by Michelle Mancini
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Mixed by Ebonie Smith
LYRICS
She was somebody’s daughter
Somebody’s friend
Someone who built her dreams with every breath
Whom others could depend
More than a number
More than a story
More than a memory
Somebody’s friend
Somebody’s daughter
Somebody’s beloved
Blood on leaves falling like autumn
Her story’s been told a thousand times
Why doesn’t everybody scream?
For anyone listening
Say her name, say her name
He was somebody’s father
Somebody’s son
Someone who dreamt of seeing his daughter
Grow taller and fall in love
More than a number
More than a story
More than a memory
Somebody’s son
Somebody’s father
Somebody’s beloved
Blood on leaves falling like autumn
His story’s been told a thousand times
Why doesn’t everybody scream?
For anyone listening
Say his name, say her name
More than just a number
Say their name
More than just a story
Say their name
More than a memory
Say their name
Say their name
Say their name
They were somebody’s first call
Somebody’s home
Someone who lived with tears and laughter
Who wanted to belong
More than a number
More than a story
More than a memory
Somebody’s home
Somebody’s first call
Somebody beloved
SHEET MUSIC
We invite you to join our choir by downloading the sheet music, performing the song and sharing it. You can email it to us to post or simply post it to your social platforms and include the hashtag #somebodysbeloved
GET THE SOMEBODY'S BELOVED PIANO CHORDS HERE!
“I believe that songs can be powerful vessels for inner healing, which can ripple out to global healing.”
JOIN THE
SOMEBODY'S BELOVED CHOIR
In partnership with Culture Surge, we have created an acapella arrangement for the song. We hope you enjoy this performance featuring MILCK, Elisha Jewell,
We also invite you to join our choir by downloading the sheet music, performing the song and sharing it. You can email it to us to post or simply post it to your social platforms and include the hashtag #somebodysbeloved
MILCK + Bipolar Sunshine Talk About The Racial Healing and Hope Behind "Somebody's Beloved"
A Song is a seed for stronger solidarity. Watch this 9 min, captioned, heartfelt conversation between Bipolar Sunshine and me as we explore the dynamic of identity, love, protest songs, and our musical heroes. We wrote “Somebody’s Beloved” last year in the wake of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. 8 months later, amidst the George Floyd Trial, and continued advocacy for Breonna, the increase of racist hate crimes towards Asian Americans, this conversation feels cathartic to share.