Long ago, in the Before Times, Aaron MacDonald wrote a song designed to unite the world, ushering in a bright future in which all could exist in perfect peace and harmony. For that one brief moment in which it emerged into our cultural consciousness, it hung like a shining beacon of hope, calling each of us forth to embrace one another and pledge to live out our lives as the best versions of ourselves. And then it vanished out of existence, lost in the shadow of The Twilight Saga or some other nonsense that did nothing for us as a species but undoubtedly saw remarkable box office returns.
Thirteen years later, “United (We Can Carry)” is being re-released, taking another stab at the ideals of humanity and riding on the wings of digital distribution.
In 2008, MacDonald was commissioned by The United Way of Halifax to write a song for their annual fundraising campaign, a theme song of sorts.
MacDonald headed to Soundpark Studios in Sydney to record with Jamie Foulds and tapped the talents of Ed Woodsworth (bass, guitar), Brian Talbot (drums), Darren Gallop (percussion) and Foulds himself on keys and vocals.
“The UW loved it and used it. Ran their marketing campaign with it. Little media blitz at the time. The UW were absolutely fantastic and supportive of me. It was unreal actually. Very cool for me at the time,” says MacDonald. “The song was never available on CD, vinyl, digitally, anything. They used it and it was gone. My life went on.”
Ten years and a good chunk of life later, “United (We Can Carry On)” turns up on an old laptop, dusty and forgotten, but quickly polished up, good as new. MacDonald notes, in particular, the unfortunate cycling nature of recurring issues from racism, to climate change, to starving children, and that many are still as relevant today as they were a decade and a half ago.
“I thought, man, this song is today!” says MacDonald. “Thinking of this whole crazy world and time we’re in… Covid, BLM, Residential schools, the world. What’s going to be left for my own kids?
“I thought, ‘it’s meant to be.’ I found this song after all this time, and it’s perfectly suited to today. Sol, I took it off the shelf for people to finally hear.”