Let's Dance

When we returned to Ecuador in January, we had a few changes to implement to our after-school care program here. One of those changes was the addition of a two-day literacy program, and a weekly music program.

We launched out music program yesterday by learning that everyone is a musician, and that musicians all over the world speak the same language. By way of example, we pointed to Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill’s cover of Celia Cruz’s “Guantanamera” and the Gipsy Kings' cover of “Hotel California.”

For the next few weeks, we will hop around the world learning about different kinds of music and how they are related – from Bob Marley to the Beatles to B.B. King. But, given that I spent an unfortunate amount of my youth listening to bad religious music, I need a little help. The hypothetical:

Let's say Ban Ki-Moon and the rest of the folks at the UN decided to set up a “World Musical Heritage Collection,” along the lines of the World Heritage Sites. What songs and artists would be in it?

Send me an email with your ideas. If you own them and aren’t a Luddite, attach them as well.