B.C. teen writes, records rap to bring Remembrance Day to forefront for youth – Vernon Morning Star

“If you happen to had been in John’s footwear, would you’ve got gone to France to battle, taken his job too?”

A lyric from a rap tune written and sung by 16-year-old Charlie Farquharson wanting again on the lifetime of John Henry Anderson, who served with the seventh Battalion Canadian Infantry. Anderson was a part of the assault at Vimy Ridge and died between April 8 and 10, 1917, simply shy of his twenty fifth birthday, in line with The Canadian Letters and Pictures Undertaking.

Charlie was in Grade 10 when he was tasked by his social research instructor at Brookswood Secondary to analysis and current on a Canadian World Warfare veteran. Most college students, Charlie mentioned, created a PowerPoint presentation, however he determined to take his work in a unique course in an effort to essentially convey to the younger technology the privileges Canadians now expertise due to the sacrifices of those that fought for our freedoms.

The outcome, a robust and charming rap tune humanizing the battle in an effort to convey a distant historic occasion again into the forefront for younger individuals.

“I made a decision to do it primarily as a result of I get the sensation that some youngsters in the case of World Warfare and Remembrance Day, they simply assume, ‘Oh, some individuals died.’ – that’s it,” he mentioned.

Charlie’s objective along with his artistic work was to convey the importance of Remembrance Day and assist youth join with the gravity of the historic occasion that strikes additional into the previous annually.

“It has been so lengthy… however nonetheless, it’s nonetheless an essential factor to recollect, reconcile and perceive as a result of it’s one thing that many individuals misplaced their lives for,” he mentioned.

“I concentrate on lots of the unfavourable results of battle [in the song], as a result of a lot of the results of battle are unfavourable. And I attempted to make use of robust adjectives to attempt to actually plant that seed.”

Charlie makes use of imaginary in his writing to assist the listener grasp the magnitude of the battle. One line particularly, “lengthy rows of pot holes” helps depict the huge plain of trenches that remained within the aftermath as a tragic reminder of what had occurred.

“The one factor we will actually consider is – we have a look at them, we consider the graves, we consider the folks that have died. Nothing optimistic actually comes out of it,” he mentioned.

The rap chronicles the sacrifices of Anderson, when he enlisted, his loss of life and the way the information of his loss of life travelled again to his household in British Columbia.

“I attempted to place lots of dedication into it, as a result of I knew it was one thing essential,” Charlie mentioned.

He estimates the completely of the work, writing and recording, took him roughly three hours.

However writing and recording music is nothing new for the Brookswood teenager, he calls it a pastime.

“It’s been a pastime of mine rising up, whether or not it’s simply listening to music or making my very own with my buddies,” he mentioned.

Now in Grade 11 at Brookswood Secondary, Charlie hopes his tune continues to resonate with younger individuals and assist them perceive the importance of Remembrance Day.

“It’s extra widespread with older individuals to have family, who’ve fought within the battle, for them to attach,” mentioned Charlie. “I feel it will be a good suggestion to discover a totally different manner to hook up with the youth. Now what that concept is, I’m not completely positive… I really feel like some youngsters, perhaps simply don’t perceive it as a lot as others.”