Fired Up, Introductory speech at the Obama Rally presented by Jon Bergevin Feb 8, 2008. Written by Joe Bergevin.
Are you Fired Up Seattle? Because I know I am. This is a great day in Seattle. Senator Barack Obama is here.
1. It does seem that Barack Obama has brought the Umbrella of Hope to Seattle, and has inspired everybody here today! Generations of People came before us today, to bring us all to this very spot, right here, right now. We all are in this together (period).
2. I'm here today to share our story about a song my brothers and I call "Fired Up Ready To Go"… The chant didn't originate with us though. Like most great achievements, it comes by us standing on the shoulders of those who came before us.
Edith Childs in Greenwood South Carolina fired up Barack Obama enough with this chant to inspire him to start retelling this story on the campaign trail, and it traveled back to Seattle, to my brothers ears, and inspired him to write some words and a musical sketch of a song, and he inspired me to act to help polish that song and contact a network friends, new friends, and family to collaborate on this project.
3. Within 10 days we had mobilized a force of nearly 60 people to converge upon the Columbia City Theatre in South Seattle, and ultimately spent one day to capture the "can do it" spirit these words convey, (strong whisper) Fired Up, Ready to Go!!.
There is a line in the song that reads,
Rise up, mornin's come
The time is now, join everyone
The time has come to move beyond
To meet the challenges head on
So, It takes just one … to start a fire.
It takes just one…Edith Childs in South Carolina to chant "Fired Up, Ready to Go" so that the people of Seattle are able to listen to and repeat this chant today across the nation.
It takes just one…Pat Wright to light a fire of possibility to allow a couple of unknown songwriters to set their music before their world reknowned Total Experience Gospel Choir. Have you heard of Jimmi Hendricks? Pat sang at his funeral. Have you heard of our own Dave Matthews (BTW, we heard he's a supporter of Barack Obama)? Pat was on his 2004 Grammy Award Winning album – She's A truly great woman.
It takes just one…Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam to start a fire of charisma. Matt is one of the best drummers of our time (Soundgarden originally, and now Pearl Jam, he's an unbelievable force in Rock 'n Roll), and a great friend and a great guy, and believes in this great cause we all stand here for today.
It takes just one…Supportive Family & Group of Friends to start a fire of encouragement, by empowering each other, and helping each other through the struggles of each day, and being there for each other to share in the joys.
It takes just one…Great Teacher, to start a fire of curiosity in so many of this nation's children, which ultimately breaths life into our economy and our future.
There are still others throughout this nation working to start a fire… It takes just one…
Joshua Stroman to start a fire of hope by rising up and telling his story about struggle and then rising above that struggle at Benedict College in South Carolina to fire up his friends and inspire others to get out and caucus on January 29th in his state. If you haven't seen his video, you owe it to yourself to go to youtube.com/barackobama and watch "An American Dream" (full version) to hear his story.
It takes just one…American Soldier's courage, to walk into the fire for you and me, for us.
It takes just one…Barack Obama to live the American Dream and rise to the challenge of leadership that stands before him, to Fire Up the nation, and the world at this time.
Senator Obama talks of how what began as a whisper in Springfield Illinois (when he announced his candidacy) has turned into a chorus throughout the nation today. You are about to hear a great chorus of voices that joined to donate their talents toward achieving an improbable project, in 10 days. A choir, a group of musicians, artists and engineers that decided change would happen from the bottom up. We are a chorus of people that came together and decided to work hard and be generous to one another, to give to one another, to give a song to the nation.
Also, We may be wise to remember, that while we had a lot of fun making this song, there is also a chorus of people working hard all over the world just to keep afloat, yet still we are all here to help each other, and to help the rising tide of hope lift us all. This song is meant to fire us all up, to work for each other, to work and sacrifice for our nation, and to move beyond.
And, If by the end of the video, you find yourself asking, where can I get this song to help Fire Up my Caucus or my friends, you can go to YouTube.com slash BarackObama, or check out MySpace.com slash BergevinBrothersMusic.
So, the stage is now set for the opening line to this song…that is, "February, 2007, a slim man, arms stretched toward heaven. Looking up this soaring peak, the crowd hushed, and he did speak, he said… Fired Up Ready to Go…"
Fired Up Ready to Go… Fired Up Ready to Go… Fired Up Ready to Go…!
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