My son Ben, aged 10, has written, performed and released a song asking for peace.
It's called Messed Up World by Ben Macnaughton & Anthony Clark and we are raising funds for SSAFA - a military charity.
Unbeknownst to me he wrote the song in his music lessons with our neighbour, 80s music producer, Anthony Clark who has toured with T'Pau, Haircut 100, Rick Astley, Bay City Rollers, Joan Armatrading to name but a few. They called the song Messed Up World and Ben asks the world to stop the fighting.
Ben's father, is a Squadron Leader in the RAF, currently serving as the Brigade Air Liaison Officer, with the tankies, 12 Mechanized Brigade, Bulford, Wiltshire. He has been deployed to a war zone every year of Ben's life since apart from 2013. Since 2003 Ben has lived in the shadow of war and has spent approximately 50% of his life separated from his father due to his father's military commitment. Throughout Ben's life he has deployed continuously to Iraq and Afghanistan and a few other war zones as well.
To listen to the awesome track watch the video which has already had over a 1000 views on You Tube.
#BenUKXmasNo1 #MessedUpWorld
Ben has never been to stage school so it's very homemade and he is keeping it real. However, he has lived his whole life in the shadow of war, he wanted to raise money for other children in the same position as him. The song will be released in aid of SSAFA. SSAFA provides lifelong support for our forces and their families. It is a charity that does whatever it takes to get things done. We provide practical support and assistance to servicemen and women, veterans, and the families of both, every single day of the year.
Song Lyrics:
It's a messed up world
But I won't let it get me down
As long as I can hold my ground
I will be safe and sound
Fighting everywhere
There is no more peace in the air
Bodies lying everywhere
I am really scared
Everything is grey and black
Smoke is coming out of my hat
A glimpse of light comes from the sky
And everything is once again fine
People are alive and singing
The world can be so lovely yes it can
We should all be happy and never sad
If we could stop the fighting and end the war
We could all be happy forever more
Forever more
We have had some interest from the local media pitching Ben as a potential Christmas number one. I can't see how this is possible. We are not a record company and every radio station that I have approached has laughed at me when I have asked them what the chances are of getting on the their playlist. We are David and they are Goliath. The national media are currently not interested - apparently inundated with cute kids' charity Christmas tunes. Ben's song is damn catchy. I challenge you to listen to it without it getting caught in your head. This was the turning point for me when I caught myself involuntarily humming it! I dare you to listen to it and to see if it doesn't get caught in your brain.
Ben's song is available on i-Tunes but to be honest we need an army of supporters to give Ben a fighting chance. I am not even sure how you do this? People keep saying to me "it could go viral." Go viral. I have no idea how that even happens.