The Price of Silence is an

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

by various artists written to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...

. The EP was produced by Andres Levin in coordination with Link TV: Television Without Borders. The net proceeds from the sale of the EP go to fund

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

Origin

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the

Universal Declaration on Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, i ...

and to draw attention to violations of human rights around the world, Link TV partnered with Andres Levin and a number of musicians, cameramen, and producers to create the EP and music video. The net revenue made from sales of the song are designated to go to fund

. The music of "The Price of Silence" is based on

Aterciopelados Aterciopelados ( en, The Velvet Ones), also known as Los Aterciopelados, is a rock band from Colombia, led by Andrea Echeverri and Héctor Buitrago. Their music fuses rock with a variety of Colombian and Latin American musical traditions. Aterci ...

' song "Cancion Protesta" from their album '' Oye''.

Track list

Artists

Artists who worked on the EP came from all over the world and included the following. In addition to the above musicians, there were a number of other musicians who wanted to be involved but ultimately could not, because of the risk associated with a human rights message. Steven Lawrence, Link TV's vice president for music and cultural programming, said, “We contacted artists who had the will, but ultimately couldn’t get involved because they or their families would have been in danger. In one case, we couldn’t even directly mention the project in our emails to a certain Central Asian musician because of government surveillance. We had to communicate in code.”

Production

Emmanuel Jal of Sudan, a former child soldier, was the first artist to record, a day after he spoke to the U.N. General Assembly. Following him, the other musicians recorded their parts, including Lhamo's

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

prayer for peace and Chiwoniso's "shout for freedom" in

Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people * Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today Shona may also refer to: * ''Shona'' (album), 1994 album by New Zealand singer Shona Laing * Shona (given name) * S ...

. Other artists sang in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Yoruban, and Spanish.

Music video

The video is set in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

General Assembly room and directed by Joshua Atesh Litle. For filming, the UN allowed the cameramen special access in order to film the video. Sixty actors played UN delegates, changing their wardrobes five times. The various musicians were filmed at other locations and digitally composited into the front of the room by

The Syndicate ''The Syndicate'' is a British television drama series. It was written by Kay Mellor and is broadcast on BBC One. It sees five members of a betting syndicate win the lottery. Each series follows a different syndicate. The first series is set i ...

and Phoenix Editorial Designs. Scenes for the video were filmed in parts of Bogota,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The music video opens with

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. He is a three time Emmy Award and Tony Award winning actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He has been hailed for his forceful, militant, and authoritative charact ...

reciting a prologue written by

Alicia Partnoy Alicia Mabel Partnoy (born 1955 in Bahía Blanca, Argentina) is a human rights activist, poet, college professor, and translator. After Argentinian President Juan Perón died, the students from the left of the Justicialist Party, Peronist politica ...

for the movie. The movie then shows the musicians singing in front of the United Nations. Steven Lawrence said that filming took longer than three months.

Release

The EP was released for download on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on December 9, 2008, the day before the anniversary of the

. The accompanying music video was played regularly on Link TV beginning the same day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Price Of Silence 2008 EPs Charity albums All-star recordings Works about the United Nations