What a Friend We Have in Jesus, in Samoan

November 17, 2019 12:59 PM

Firefighters from American Samoa sing as they march down a mountain in California. Via.
posted by growabrain (6 comments total)

Versatile tune, that. British soldiers in WW2 also used it to express their own views in "When This Bloody War is Over".
posted by Paul Slade at 1:36 PM on November 17, 2019 [2 favorites]

Oh my! That stirred my cold dead heart.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:56 PM on November 17, 2019 [1 favorite]

Thanks for sharing. More from last summer.
posted by compartment at 6:47 PM on November 17, 2019

Too short!
posted by anadem at 7:48 PM on November 17, 2019

Don't miss the five-minute multi-song video on compartment's link. The preroll ad is worth enduring. Includes full version of "What a Friend." These guys need to go on a North American concert tour. (Perhaps there are not very many forest fires in Samoa so they have plenty of time for practice?)
posted by beagle at 7:20 AM on November 18, 2019

I'm getting bitter in my old age (i'm 29 but also dead serious about this). videos like this both warm my soul, but also leave me wanting to weep for my generation, and those after mine. Capitalism has absolutely destroyed any and all culture and community in the US. I still share some southern heritage traditions, but it's nothing of what it used to be. Singing like this, for joy and community and intimacy and respect would never, ever be part of any culture while capitalism is prevalent. Under capitalism the only goal is money, and isolation. This was so beautiful it broke my heart.
posted by FirstMateKate at 9:37 AM on November 18, 2019 [4 favorites]