THE LANGLEY PROJECT

Or as I call it, the antidote.

Last week, when I was down the Jersey shore, my oldest son, Miles, and I drove back in his car to pick something up from the place where we were staying and on his satellite radio we heard an amazingly moving chorus of young voices singing. While trying to figure out what we were hearing, we ended up listening to a radio documentary and interview about what turned out to be a chorus of elementary school children recorded in the 1970s.

There was something so poignant about the sound of these kids singing David Bowie and Brian Wilson songs it brought tears to my eyes. And we were delightedly surprised to discover these kids were recorded in Canada in some obscure small town called Langley.

When he returned home to the Berkshires, Miles sent me three links to the three parts of another, filmed documentary about this recording and the people who made it. So here they are: one, two three.

Watch the whole thing and I think you'll be equally touched. It's the antidote to the gratuitous violence, gratuitous irony, gratuitous anger etc. I've written about in recent posts. The achievement of these kids and their music teacher makes clear once again that true wealth is not measured by fame or fortune but by ways we touch others we encounter that brings more joy into the world.