There's a new Eddie Vedder song, but maybe it's not what you expect. Better Believe was written and recorded in collaboration with the guys from Guitars Over Guns, a Chicago organization that uses music, mentoring and the arts to empower young people and broaden their life prospects.
«By sharing skills and experiences, and starting from the passion that unites us for music, we inspire our students to imagine a future full of possibilities, helping them to feel involved, motivated and responsible for their own path», reads the mission of the non-profit.
Written for the occasion, the singer of Pearl Jam and Guitars Over Gun presented Better Believe yesterday with a live performance at the Obama Presidential Center grand opening party in Chicago. It was the Obama Foundation that put Vedder and Guitars Over Guns in contact. In addition to the musicians of the non-profit and Andre “Add-2” Daniels, who teaches at Columbia College and is the director of Guitars Over Guns for the Chicago area, students and former students of Columbia's Audio Arts department, where the piece was recorded, participated in the recording.
All royalties received by Eddie Vedder and his co-authors will be donated to Guitars Over Guns.
The studio recorded version:
The live version:
Many other artists performed yesterday for the inauguration of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Bruce Springsteen dedicated Land of Hope and Dreams to Barack and Michelle Obama saying they embodied the nation's ideal of progress, Bono and The Edge of U2 who did City of Blinding Lights. Also taking the stage were Stevie Wonder, the Roots, Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, John Legend, Tems and more. Last piece: a chorale Higher Ground led by Wonder.
The three and a half hour ceremony:
