A couple of days ago I saw a clip of a Minneapolis community brass band riffing on “Stand by Me” at one of the memorial gatherings for Alex Pretti, the latest victim in that city of our homegrown Gestapo. I was struck by how vibrant the music was—with everyone’s breath coming out in frozen puffs, but no damper on the authenticity or the energy.
And it brought me back to the Playing for Change
organization, and their version of the Ben E. King hit, originally released in
1961. Man—different time, and yet so much the same.
I think I saw the Playing for Change video about 10 or 12 years ago; it was such an interesting notion, editing in multiple
musicians playing the same piece literally around the world. And that particular
song was the perfect one to debut the concept. They’ve since done it with lots
of songs, including my last
Friday’s earworm.
Both “Stand by Me” and this amalgam of performers perfectly
represent what we’ve been seeing for weeks in Minneapolis: people of all
backgrounds standing by their neighbors, despite the weather and despite the
very real danger of masked thugs intimidating and committing crimes against
them.
Minnesota nice will crack the ICE. And we need to stand
with them.
©2026 Bas Bleu
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