Music royalty composer Randy Edelman offers his stirring and compelling anthemic tribute to the youth and the nation of England within his song “Young England.” With color as the keyboard and the soul as the piano Edelman connects to people on a human level where the past, present and future glide over one another but never touch.
After WW ll there came a great revolution guided by Britain’s youth and what emerged from that were new trends, new music, new fashion, and a new coolness. It was as if the young was guiding the next generation and forgiving the last. They were not content with merely formulating their generation but instead enlightening it and cultivating independent thinking. In “Young England” Edelman both beautifully and eloquently drew a collaboration between the older and younger generation. There is a sweetness to the song where all the history ensures the indelible mark in the souls of generations still yet to come.
The monochromatic video of “Young England” with visuals taken from a 1949 short film called “English Youth-City Life” produced by Encyclopedia Britannica stands by the song showing us that the world shifts and the climate changes and we no longer have a holy passport to protect us. Life is a journey defined by whatever experiences we have and whatever turns we take, or whatever fate chooses for us. We venture forward with fragile maps in hand, flying our banners of hope and trying to make it from youth to maturity.
Edelman was part of that revolution himself premiering his own pop hits on the BBC’s legendary Top Of The Pops with “Uptown, Uptempo Woman” and “Concrete and Clay.” And the hits kept coming when superstars covered his songs such as Barry Manilow (A Weekend in New England), Patti LaBelle (Isn’t it A Shame), Nelly (My Place), The Carpenters (You), and a parade of others. He also won (and continues to win) another battle in Hollywood becoming one of the best and most demanded film soundtrack gurus with motion pictures including: “My Cousin Vinny”, “Last of the Mohicans”, “Ghostbusters ll”, “Anaconda”, “Gettysburg”, and over 100 others as well as television themes such as the NBC hit series “MacGyver.”
Always on top of the rollercoaster Edelman continues to score films including “Too Hot to Handle (the new Ghostbusters ll documentary) and the new Cuba Gooding Jr. Film “Athena Saves Christmas” while also working on a new hit album called “Can’t Be Killed by Any Conventional Means.” Edelman is also completing his musical called “Short Cut” about the building of the Panama Canal while selling out his live solo performances all over New York City and London in a feature he created about the musical soundscape of his world-renowned career.
The intensity of “Young England” is one of Edelman’s finest hours and musical triumphs. Listening to the song and watching the video gives way to one of those times when the world seems to pause in its perpetual spinning, and the minutes hang suspended. Edelman’s sensitivity in both his musical arrangement and lyrics are exquisite and captivating. He allows us to see that the past is never lost to us and we carry it in every step we take. It is where we made our mistakes and where we can consign them.
Watch the Randy Edelman “Young England” Music Video here: