(Clearwisdom.net) The results of the 7th Annual Great American Song Contest were released on March 15, and among the winners was "Set Them Free" by Randall Effner, which received an "Honor" award for Lyric Writing.
Created by songwriters, the Great American Song Contest focuses on helping songwriters and lyricists improve their skills while providing opportunities to have their work be seen and heard by music publishers, producers, and music media. Every entry receives a written evaluation from the contest judges. This year, the contest celebrated its seventh successful year as a respected international songwriting event.
This year's contest had 1800 entries overall, with 500 entries in the Lyric Writing category. In this group, in addition to the first place winner, four songs earned "Outstanding Achievement" awards, eight won awards as "Finalists" and fifteen more songs, including "Set Them Free" won "Honor" awards.
"Set Them Free" was originally written in the summer of 2005 for a large march and rally to "Quit the CCP" (Tuidang) held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Since then, it's been performed live or recordings of it have been played at numerous Tuidang rallies around the world, including New York, Boston, Miami, Australia, London, and other places.
In Randall's words: "A friend in Washington DC asked me to try to write a song for the rally, something specific to the movement to Quit the CCP. Actually, I had already been thinking about writing such a song for a long time, and this provided the added incentive I needed. I remembered the powerful impact the protest songs of the 60s had on the civil rights movement. It was that music, more than anything else, that turned rather apathetic students such as myself into activists. I thought, 'Maybe that idealism is still out there, lying dormant, waiting for the right spark to ignite it again.'
"I'm very pleased and grateful to have received this award from this highly respected group of music-industry professionals. But it's also a test of sorts. I have to remember why I'm doing this. I am not seeking to be a star or sell CDs. The purpose for writing the song was to help end the persecution in China, and I think this award and the publicity surrounding it will further that goal. I hope that now, even more people will learn "Set Them Free" and sing it wherever people need to hear the truth.
"Someone asked me who the song is addressing, who it's talking to. To me it is a direct appeal to the governments and people of the free world. At the same time, it's a challenge, or more properly, a demand to the communist regime in China, to "let these people go." Finally, it is a heartfelt plea to all the righteous forces in heaven: 'Set Them Free!' It is all of these things at once.
"When I wrote the song last summer, I was up against a tight deadline. There was no time to make an appointment at a studio, so I recorded it at a friend's house. That original demo recording had a lot of spirit, but it was kind of rough. You can find that version of the song posted here: http://www.pureinsight.org/PI/index.php?news=3927
"Since then, we've worked on it some more, and got some great help from professional studios both here in Missouri where I live and also in Florida. The new recording of 'Set Them Free' is now posted at our website, www.justicewillprevail.com ."
Randall and his daughter Sara have been writing music and performing together for several years.
Set Them Free
Words and Music by Randall Effner
I hear the chimes of freedom ring again
I heard them once before when they were blowin' in the wind
The Chinese people walk in chains, they're longing to be free
It's time to tell the world the truth about the CCP
I'd like to paint a picture in this song,
About what it's like in China if you practice Falun Gong,
Or if you are a Christian or you're for democracy
They'll put you in a prison cell and throw away the key.
Chorus:
Set them free! set them free! set them free! set them free!
Set them free! set them free! set them free! set them free!
The labor camps are like a living hell
Where you're beaten, starved and brainwashed and there's nowhere to appeal
There is no law or justice, there is just the CCP
Who hide their evil deeds behind a cloak of secrecy.
The free world should stand up for liberty
But now we sell out human rights to buy a cheap TV,
We see slavery and torture and we turn our head aside
I'd rather spend a little more than pay for genocide.
Repeat Chorus
The world will not forget the Berlin Wall
And how the people danced with joy, just to see it fall
The Chinese leaders shake with fear remembering that day
They know their time is almost up and soon they'll have to pay.
The blood red dragon can no longer fly
Nine swords have pierced its armor and it looks about to die
Now millions of its members have renounced it publicly
The world will be a better place without the CCP.
Repeat Chorus
Raise Pitch One Step and Repeat Chorus
