“I need you, you need me, we’re all a part of God’s body. Stand with me, agree with me, we’re all a part of God’s body. It is God’s will that every need be supplied. You are important to me, I need you to survive”
A simple prayer taught to Soul Sounds by Professor Mark Wilson from UC Berkley the first time he visited Sri Lanka and worked with us on the Gospel show in 2009. We sing this as a vocalizing exercise and also at times when we need to give our collective confidence a little boost. They say that African-American Gospel music brings out the core of an idea or the most complex of prayer in the simplest of words. But its power is magnanimous. Its power to touch the hearts of those who believe in a higher being, irrespective of the religion one follows, to me is the most amazing quality of Gospel music. Each time we sing these words I feel like my heart will overflow or burst into pieces. I cannot really explain which exactly it is, but it certainly stirs something within me. If you know what it is like to love something so much that you want to cry and laugh at the same time, you would know the exact emotion I am trying to explain.
The love we share as the Soul Sounds team, the friends we’ve made throughout the years, the hardships that we have faced together, the heartache we have shared, the moments that we know we will cherish forever are all made to come alive at the same time by the words in this simple prayer. Sometimes I wonder what all our lives would be like if we were not a part of Soul Sounds and I cannot imagine it. The years we have been together have been the best years of my life - the heartaches as well the joys have made us better people. I hope the memories we have made together will remain in all of us forever so that when we look back at our lives with Soul Sounds we will remember to hum the tune, “You are Important to me, I need you to survive”.
Saumya Fernando, Soul Sounds
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