Tom Morello is one of several rock vets joining the Afghan-based group The Miraculous Love Kids / Girl With a Guitar as they cover the Eurythmics classic, “Sweet Dreams.” The new video comes with a purpose as founder Lanny Cordola is seeking to spotlight the plight of young women in war-torn countries.
This new cover not only features some of Morello’s blistering guitar work, but there are guest contributions from Foo Fighters keyboardist Rami Jaffe, The Go-Go’s bassist Kathy Valentine, The Runaways vocalist Cherie Currie, The Bangles guitarist Vicki Peterson, MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer and Umphrey’s McGee drummer Kris Myers along with The Bird and the Bee duo Greg Kurstin and Inara George.
“I feel a moral and spiritual imperative to awaken humanity, in particular my brethren in the music community to help give a voice to the horrible plight of poverty-stricken, war-torn girls,” Cordola explains via The Miraculous Kids website. “Why girls? Because they have it the worst — forced into childhood marriages, stripped of their rights, and exploited in every way imaginable.”
Speaking on the song choice, Cordola continued, “We wanted to do something moody — a kind of gothic hymn — and we gravitated towards the dark yet hopeful spirit of this song. The lines in the song — ‘some of them want to use you, some of them want to get used by you, some of them want to abuse you, some of them want to be abused — really resonate, reflecting these troubled times. But then a glimmer of optimism — ‘hold your head up…keep your head up’ — gently flows through the voices of these girls who have experienced the worst that humanity has to offer.”
The Eurythmics, featuring Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, enjoyed the breakout moment of their career with “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” in 1983. The track, from the album of the same name, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at No. 16 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. It was also later covered and became the breakout hit for Marilyn Manson a decade later.
Morello adds, “These girls are so brave and so inspiring. It is an honor to make music with them.” Kramer, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee with his band MC5, adds that the experience of playing with the group was “inspirational.”
Cordola concludes, “The girls are learning about the world through rock and roll, and have begun discovering the wonders and magic of the guitar from this incredible cast of soul-filled musicians from America, who all offered their services with great generosity and enthusiasm.”
Cordola founded the Miraculous Love Kids with the goal of helping give children in poverty-stricken area a voice and raising funds to assist the youth of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Girl With a Guitar is a music program helping to further the musical pursuits of young women in the region. To learn more about The Miraculous Love Kids organization and to donate, click here.
The Miraculous Love Kids / Girl With a Guitar, “Sweet Dreams” (Eurythmics Cover)
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