Single Review: Gary Barlow/Commonwealth Band – Sing
For the diamond jubilee which celebrates the Queen’s sixty year reign, Gary Barlow collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber and created a song specifically for that event. He has called this song ‘Sing’. Gary travelled to several countries around the world and recorded samples from those countries for the song. The result was Gary performing with the African Children’s Choir, The Military Wives Choir and The Commonwealth Band and the result is a spectacular song that celebrates and pays tribute to the Queen and her years on the throne.
The song begins with calm piano play and is joined by an African child singing beautifully. After, the Military Wives Choir sing lyrics such as “Sing it louder, sing it clearer/knowing everyone will hear you/make some noise, find your voice tonight.” These lyrics are well written and emotive. They are memorable, catchy and you can’t help but sing along when you hear them. The song also incorporates instruments such as the bongos that demonstrate the song isn’t just about Great Britain, but is inclusive of other countries from around the world..
What Gary Barlow has done with Andrew Lloyd Webber in this song is remarkable and I give my uppermost respect to him for travelling throughout the world to countries such as Australia and Africa etc gathering samples. It isn’t just a one-off song for the Diamond Jubilee either, it’s great in itself with meaningful lyrics and a fantastic composition of many different underlying instruments.
This was a huge task for Gary Barlow which he had to complete in a relatively short amount of time. Not only has he managed to do that in time for the Jubilee, but he has also managed to create something special that will be played in years to come and will still remind the listener of this special weekend for the British people.