On the occasion of Earth Day, Kovács Kati’s song, the psychedelic spiritual “Lord Send Us Rain!” (“Add már, uram, az esőt!”) that won the Hungarian Dance Song Festival and the German Song Contest in 1972, was used for the occasion with the support of friends of Transylvanian Television (Erdély TV): Transylvanian performers, artists and musicians.
“Earth Day is an annual global event, organized around the world on April 22 since 1970, that celebrates the environmental movement and raises awareness about pollution and ways to maintain a clean habitat. We thought that it is the perfect occasion for reaching out to the artists in Transylvania who aren’t able to work during the pandemic and demonstrate that at the end of the day music is always what heals the soul and no matter what, music will always be there to help us through hard times.” said one of the coordinators of the project, Petra Badics.
“A song recorded in Hungary served as an inspiration. Artists from different fields – actors and singers – said thanks to the doctors working on the front line during the coronavirus pandemic through an adaptation of a song well-known by many generations and performed by the band LGT. We contacted about 40 Transylvanian artists, most of whom immediately accepted the challenge: to record a Transylvanian version of the song,” informed Károly Kovács, the project’s manager.
The song, “Lord Send Us Rain!” (“Add már, uram, az esőt!”) brought massive rains throughout the country in 1972 at the time of a great drought. According to news reports, on the heels of the coronavirus, there now comes extreme drought, and crops are in danger all over the world. In Romania, there are places where there hasn’t been any rain for six months.
Oros Adrian, Minister of Agriculture announced that “farmers in Dobrogea say they have never seen such a drought. Unfortunately in Moldova and Dobrogea, the extreme weather has compromised crops where there were no possibilities for irrigation.”
Music base: Imre Vizi, Guitar: Imre Vizi, Violin: Magor Bocsárdi, Cajon: Réka Fodor, Hang drum: Károly Kovács.
Video editing: Ede Barabási, Composer: Tibor Koncz, Text: Iván Szenes.
Singers: Magdi Kásler,Ilka Krisztina Rițziu, Bora Kiss, Csaba Fehér, Emese Boros, Blanka Abodi Nagy Blanka, Kincső Becze Máthé,Beatrix Csíki, Fanni Dobos, Tamás Fazakas, Anita Korodi, Helga Kreiter, István Pál, Teodóra Szederjesi, Attila László, Barna Bokor, Árpád Barabás, Ernő Galló, Shake quartet: Emília Borbély, Enikő Éder, Attila Kiss Attila, András Csaba Molnos, Nikolett Kovács, Johanna Bertóti, Krisztina Koszorus, Ildikó Keresztes, Imre Vizi, Réka Fodor, Blanka Moldován Blanka, Károly Kovács, Előd Szabó, Annamária Moșneag, Aba Sebestyén.
Featured photo: Old Farmer’s Almanac
