Two brothers from north Wales have spoken about their surprise that a song they penned in memory of their mum has gone viral in Ukraine. Ed and Pete Brookes, who are originally from Conwy and go by the name of Brothers Abide, wrote Til We Can Run as a song of hope, fortitude, and unity during a time of hardship.
However neither of the brothers imagined that the euro-pop styled song would become an internet sensation all over the world. A music video for the song has so far reached 140,000 views on YouTube.
Speaking to WalesOnline Ed explained that the song was written after they lost a loved one during the coronavirus pandemic. He said: "At the time we were all in lockdown and then suddenly my mum had a stroke.
"Her memory was deteriorating and unfortunately we were unable to visit my mum due to restrictions so were only able to speak over the phone. We were talking about how different life had become, living in hope that we would all come out on the other side and have a greater appreciation of things that we had.
"My mum was always talking about having a huge party at the end of lockdown with the prospect of meeting up with all the loved ones. The initial thought was that lockdown was only going to last a few weeks. But unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be as my mum sadly passed away a couple of weeks after.
"At my mum’s funeral my brother and myself sang Abide With Me, which was one of my mother’s favourite hymns. My mum had a huge passion for music and that had a huge influence on us."
On the evening of their mother's funereal Ed explained that the brothers sat around the fire and talked about their mum until the early hours of the morning. "We decided we wanted to make a song in memory of her," Ed said. "And that is when Brothers Abide was formed – obviously a reference to the hymn and the fact that we are brothers.
"We wanted to produce a song that featured different musicians from all over the world. Through the power of the internet we were able to collaborate with musicians from Madagascar, Nigeria, Kenya, England, Romania, Germany, Netherlands – everywhere.
"We had the time to do it and it was something we wanted to do. We wanted to share a bit of our mum’s positive and create a party for the world – that was the plan.
"I have never made a song in my life – my brother is the musician and I was quite musical in school. I got this software and looked at how to make your own songs. I started to learn the software and as Pete lives in Reading we ended up collaborating for about three to four hours a week, which took around eight months to complete. When you’ve got two different people coming in, with two different ideas, it’s very difficult to create something we agree with."
According to Ed once the song was shared online the response to it was "phenomenal". Not only has the song resonated with people in Ukraine but has also become a hit with Galaxy African Kids – a group of young and talented children from Uganda who have made a dance routine for the song.
"There isn't much joy in the world and I think people are looking for something to help them," Ed added. "We wanted to give people a bit of hope and inspiration with something uplifting. It’s a song of hope – it is to say that life will get better and I think it just resonates with a lot of people all over the world.
"But I never expected it to reach so many people. It was only when we looked at the stats that we realised that all these countries all over the world were listening to the song.
"We suddenly saw that Ukraine was in number one spot – way over 20% of the 140,000 views. It just blew me away and shows the power of the internet. It’s shocking and terrible what is happening there right now and for this song to resonate with them is so humbling.
"And on top of that, we've received so many messages from all over the place, including from the Galaxy African Kids group, who told us that they made a music video for it. We just can't believe it – two brothers from Conwy and these beautiful and talented children from Uganda have created a dance to the song. It really is amazing."
The brothers now hope to work on other songs and create an album but admit they weren't expecting the song to take them on such a journey. "We did it for ourselves, we did it for our mum, we did it to overcome grief," Ed said..
"When you lose a parent you feel that sense of guilt for not spending enough time with them. We did this in memory of mum but also to help us get over losing mum. It was about creating a positive, uplifting moment in our lives and overcoming that grief. If it makes people feel amazing, then it has done its job."
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