12th October 2021
Occasionally, I have an encounter so unexpected, so utterly entrancing, that I am left breathless with joy and wonder. Such was a recent experience I had on Zoom with a complete stranger from Hong Kong. What made it remarkable was that my song, “Best Friend — The Unicorn Song,” served as a portal into a surprisingly uninhibited interaction between us, grounded in music, magic and intention. Our conversation and an additional “playlist” with translations, and other artists’ versions of “Best Friend…” are available on my YouTube Channel.
This story begins with Harold Leung, founder, CEO and editor of the Hong Kong-based POPA (Positive Parenting) Channel who went looking for my website, found my YouTube channel and ultimately my email address. He was determined to discover for his 280,000 online followers, whether “Best Friend — The Unicorn Song,” was intended to be “an account of the inner world of an autistic person.” In his email he wrote, “such rumors have spread and have become a myth in the local autistic community here in Hong Kong.” After studying my music, Harold had concluded, “such rumors are a misunderstanding. The story we are working on (for POPA Channel) aims to educate the public about autism… We would be very grateful if you could shed some light” on the song’s intention.
He ended his message with the following: “…The Cantonese version of your song, ‘San Ren Xing,’ used to be my lullaby when I was a child. Many years later, it has become the lullaby of my three children…”
It was those last two sentences that spun me around twice and sent me rocketing back through a 45-year magical memory tour with this special song.
From the moment I first performed “Best Friend — The Unicorn Song” in 1974, the song began to make its own way in the world. After concerts, audience members waited to tell me that the song was a great success when they shared it with children and young people. Word reached me that the legendary folk group, Peter, Paul & Mary was including “The Unicorn Song” on their long-awaited Reunion album.
Then in 1984, Hong Kong pop star George Lam released “San Ren Xing,” the Cantonese version of “Best Friend — The Unicorn Song” and it was a hit. At the time, I was on tour introducing my new album, Here Is A Love Song. I had no idea Richard Lam’s elegant translation had brought about a dramatic change in direction for “Best Friend…” — away from unicorns toward flying elephants and autism.
Harold’s email brought up so many questions, stirred so much curiosity in me, that I had to get face-to-face with him instead of communicating through email. When he agreed to meet on Zoom, it occurred to me: let’s record our interaction in case our meanderings go somewhere interesting or provocative.
What I did not expect — could not have imagined or prepared for — was that, in addition to wanting to know about the song’s intention, Harold wanted to know about my song-writing process. Our easy exchange made sharing that private territory just a short step sideways for me.
I invite you to tune in to our encounter, posted on my YouTube Channel. In addition to our Zoom conversation (50+ min.), co-producer Drew Lehman and I have composed a playlist of “side-trips” within this magical musical journey including video performance, recordings, and lyric translations.
Enjoy!
