Murakami plays antiwar songs on radio to protest Ukraine war
18.03.2022 - 19:33
/ abcnews.go.com
TOKYO -- Playing James Taylor’s “Never Die Young” and going back to songs that marked the antiwar movement in the 1960s, author Haruki Murakami added his voice to protests against the war in Ukraine with a special edition of his Japanese radio show.“Does music have the power to stop war? Sadly, the answer is no,” Murakami said. “But it has the power to make listeners believe that war is something we must stop.”For Friday’s 55-minute program called “Music to put an end to war,” broadcast across Japan by Tokyo FM, Murakami chose 10 tracks from his collections of records and CDs at home that “in my mind best fit our theme.”Some were more straightforward antiwar songs and others "songs that deal with the importance of human life, love and dignity, they can be considered antiwar songs in some broader sense.”“Lyrics are going to play a big part in tonight’s show, so be sure to keep an open ear,” Murakami reminded his listeners.
“By the end of the show, I have a feeling that you’ll be more inspired to bring an end to war. Time will tell."For some songs he rehearsed passages of the lyrics he translated into Japanese in his own words, adding historical background that included racial and social disparities while conveying the message of anger, sorrow and love.The antiwar songs from the 1960s included Peter, Paul & Mary’s “Cruel War,” which he used to play as part of a folk song band in high school, and “Unknown Soldier” by the Doors, which he remembered always playing on the radio in his college days.With his youth years overlapping with the antiwar movement, his words — and choice of songs — gave a deeper meaning and relevance to the conflict in Ukraine.He opened his program with James Taylor’s “Never Die Young," a song aimed at
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