“The power of youth is the common wealth for the entire world. The faces of young people are the faces of our past, the present and our future. No segment in the society can match with the power, idealism, enthusiasm, and courage of the young people.”….Kailash Satyarthi
Youth is a short season. World acclaimed composer Randy Edelman immortalizes that season with his heart warming and entrancing English anthemic symphony “Young England.” The beautifully poised song and vision evokes not only a child-like innocence foreshadowing the future, but it also echoes the integral past of the British youth culture that helped define the nation. The song rages with apparitions of the aristocracy of rockstars, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, the Sex Pistols, trending fashions, Twiggy, the mini skirt, and anti-Vietnam protestors storming Grosvenor Square. The cool thing is the tune mentions none of those things, however, its meaning is so big that it reaches those phenomenal images in silence.
There is a beautiful sweetness encapsulated within the mosaic of history of “Young England” that only a sensitive musician and lyricist like Randy could create with his spiritual and creative vocation and his ability to experience emotions, thoughts and sensations with greater intensity and complexity. There is always a place where his poetry can find a voice.
Juxtaposed to the gentleness of the song there is also a great power within the message and the kaleidoscopic, monochromatic video accompanying it which serves to help enhance the images of the mind by breathlessly taking us back to a time gone by. The video is composed of edited scenes from a 1949 short film called “English Children-Life in the City”, produced by Encyclopedia Britannica.
The multi-award winning maestro celebrated his own super hit songs during the British youth revolution on the BBC’s “Top of the Pops” with recordings including “Uptown, Uptempo Woman” and “Concrete and Clay.” Randy also wrote songs for some of the most iconic artists on the planet including Barry Manilow (A Weekend in New England), Patti LaBelle (Isn’t it a Shame), Nelly (My Place), Olivia, Newton-John, The Carpenters, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Willy Nelson and a vast array of others.
The serialist also wrote the soundtracks for over 100 motion pictures and television series. Some include “Last of the Mohicans”, “Ghostbusters ll”, “My Cousin Vinny”, “Billy Madison”, “While You Were Sleeping”, the theme for the hit series “MacGyver”, the Olympics, and again too many to mention.
Randy Edelman continues to feverishly compose film scores including his most recent “The Possession of Anne” set to release this October on Amazon Prime, “Athena Saves Christmas” starring Cuba Gooding Jr., and “Too Hot To Handle” the Ghostbusters ll documentary. He is also working on his musical “Short Cut” about the Panama Canal and crafting his new album “Can’t Be Killed by Any Conventional Means.” On top of this he has created a one man show of the soundscape of his life and ever evolving career which he performs live to sold out audiences in New York and London.
Watch the “Young England” music video by Randy Edelman here:
