When I was in the most impressionable age, one of the stark memories of my roommate who was a big fan of the Beatles. He was a fan to the extent that he bore their trademark hairstyle and even looked like Paul McCartney. I remember John Lennon because of his song Imagine. The song has an Eastern world view that could be the result of his visit to India to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation sessions, and his wife Yoko Ono. That song envisions a world living in peace, brotherhood and love.
So, when there is a songwriting contest named after John Lennon, that is the kind of sentiment I would expect to be promoted. As expected, the song written by a Nepali contestant Piyush Shakya, going by his stage name “Le’Ridge Stereo”, became a finalist in the John Lennon songwriting contest with his song “World we live in,” that reflects a similar view of the song Imagine by these lines
“Greed took the best of us, it’s an eye for an eye
One day we’ll be gone, no trace on earth or the sky…”
Scroll towards the bottom for the full lyrics of the song.
It is a view of the world that is rife in conflict that Lennon imagined would go away if we could imagine a world, as he expressed:
“Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace…”
Piyush grew up in Kathmandu with exposure to pop and rock music in the 90s. His first exposure to musical instrument was a one-hour shared session on drums during extra curricular classes in Galaxy Public School in the late 90s.
Piyush has resided in the US since 2004, and is an IT professional by career. In 2016, he picked up guitar lessons on his own and dug deeper into music; and in 2020, he started working on his own compositions. His search for musical companions led him to meet Rebecca and Diwas Gurung in New York, and that is when ‘LeRidge Stereo’ was born to attain something bigger. He is definitely on the right track because, in another international songwriting contest, he reached the semifinal with his song “Another Sun” co-written with Rebecca.
Given the passion he has for music, we can expect to hear more of his creation and more accolades in future contests. Le’Ridge Stereo does not see himself as a singer, but his songwriting and music could take him to higher places. With passion nothing is impossible. He could be another proof of it and an inspiration to future generations of Nepali youth, especially in the rarely explored territory of songwriting competitions.
Le’Ridge Stereo published his first EP in August 2021 and is currently working on his second album. “World We Live In” is scheduled for release later this fall as a part of his third release, but you may find few of his musical artistry, along with the semifinalist song of ISC “Another Sun” from his first album here:
Connect with Le’Ridge
https://linktr.ee/leridgestereo
Rebecca’s Influences/Inspirations:
HER, Alicia Keys, Sabrina Claudio, Beyonce, Whitney Housten, Michael Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie wonder, Ariana Grande
Rebecca on social media
https://www.instagram.com/reb__z/
https://www.facebook.com/rebecca.shrestha.7739/
Lyrics for the song “World we live in.”
# World we live in
It’s poetry in motion
And the emotions we cry
Counting everyday, innocent bodies that die
Greed took the best of us, it’s an eye for an eye
One day we’ll be gone, no trace on earth or the sky
It’s the world that we live in
We just hating or complaining
But the things don’t seem to be
alright
It’s the hope that we killing
This world could use a healing
We just need to make the things
be alright
I’m taking you to the WORLD that we living in
HATE keep on spilling in
People HURT each other
CORRUPTION keeps filling in
Open ur EYES
Better widen up your VISION
TAKE CONTROL
it’s TIME to change PERCEPTIONS
—————–**Nepali Lyrics**—————-
Yo SABAI ko LADAI, na tah DAI, didi, BHAI
**(transl. This is everyone’s battle, not just brother’s, or sister’s)**
JINDAGI ko MAIDAAN ma eutai SIPAAHI
**(transl. In the battle of life, you’re the only soldier)**
——————————————————–
FIX yo ATTITUDE
Let go of the EGO you FUEL
join in your HANDS with ME
HEAL this world of FOOLS
Hmmm …ey ey ooh..
Ey ey…ah…
La La laAA LAaa
It’s the world that we live in
We just hating or complaining
But the things don’t seem to be alright
It’s the hope that we killing
This world could use a healing
We just need to make the things
be alright
Get back to..
REMINISCING the DAYS
When my WORLD was YOUNG
No GUILT, no HATRED
Had no REAson to RUN!
The more we grow OLDER
The PRETENTIOUS the WORLD
Live in SOCIETY
Of SUITED booted UNDERWORLD
We fighting EQUAL in COLOR, GENDER, and RACES
UNDERNEATH it ALL
Just a HUMAN; different FACES
Have some GRATITUDE
LOOK AT the WORLD we’ve DOOMED
AFTER ALL the MADNESS
We the SHAMELESS FOols
Hmmm …ey ey ooh..
Ey ey…ah…
La La laAA LAaa
Now SitTing EVERYDAY!
here we PRAY!
For the PEACE to come
SKY’s selling HEAVEN
Here on EARTH we got SEVEN!
We BREWING UP an AMBITION to CHANGE the world
KILL the HATE, GREED & WAR
With LoVE, we UNFURL
Hearing them POLITICIANS
DIVIDE our RACE
VIOLENCE, CORRUPTION, TEARS
They HURT like BLADE
Well they say POWER to the PEOPLE
Feel like LYRICAL VERSES
FREEDOM’s good on PAPER
SINS are LOUDER than CURSES
We GOT the BRAINS, We ain’t USING it
Why follow OTHERS?
We simply ABUSING it!
‘Cause our MIND is our KINGDOM and we RULE on it
We get one life, don’t be a FOOL on it!
It’s the world that we live in
We just hating or complaining
But the things don’t seem to be alright
It’s the hope that we killing
This world could use a healing
We just need to make the things
be alright
—-
We live in a world of dreams
do away with greed, discrimination, and hate
We say we’re tired of it all
But we always leave it to fate
It’s time we stop the madness
Get rid of the greed we harvest
Celebrate diversity in our unity
& shed light to our darkness
