Derry songwriter pens ballad for Gaza Ground Aid charity

Talented Derry songwriter and musician, Paddy Nixon, has collaborated with popular singer, Conor McGinty, to release a fundraising single in aid of the charity Gaza Ground Aid Ireland.

Gaza Ground Aid Ireland is a non-profit organisation which works with trusted people on the ground in Gaza in order to get aid straight to where it is needed most.

Speaking to The Derry News, Mr Nixon said he was moved to write the song ‘A Father’s Dream (Free Palestine)’ because he was watching the news and seeing food aid getting held up and lying rotting. The song tells the story of a father forced to take action in a seemingly hopeless situation. I just felt helpless myself,” he said, “but then I realised that everybody could do something within in their own sphere. For me, that was obviously song writing and playing music, so I wrote the song.

“I also wanted to raise awareness about what is going on in Gaza, not that anyone here needs reminded.

“When I was writing ‘A Father’s Dream (Free Palestine)’, I knew that Conor’s voice would really suit it. When I write songs, I generally have a voice in mind. When I approached him, I am pleased to say, he jumped on board straight away and said he would love to do it because he was having the same thoughts as me, sort of feeling a bit helpless.

“We are musicians, not doctors or the captains of boats delivering aid, so we can’t do anything practical. The music was our way of making a meaningful contribution.

“I had the idea for ‘A Father’s Dream (Free Palestine)’ about a year ago but I was also very conscious I didn’t want people to think I was jumping on some sort of bandwagon or that it was for social media hits or financial gain.

“And then I was worried about when would be the best time to release the song. From the perspective of Gaza there really is no good time. So, with Conor on board, we just decided to go for it and record ‘A Father’s Dream (Free Palestine).’”

They were joined on the recording by Eamonn Karren (piano) and Stephen O’Carolan (button key accordion) at The Disc Shack Studio, in Derry.

“Conor then contacted Martina Anderson from Sinn Féin because we wanted to translate ‘A Father’s Dream (Free Palestine)’ into Arabic and because neither of us knew anything about that area and we wanted to make sure the song was correctly translated, Martina put us in touch with Arabic speakers that she knows from an embassy. They got the lyrics and they went over the translation with us to make sure it was all correct.

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“So the words are on the video as well in Levantine Arabic, which is spoken in Palestine,” he added.

“‘A Father’s Dream (Free Palestine)’ can be downloaded from all major platforms and we are pleased that all money raised will be going to Gaza Ground Aid Ireland.

“This is an ideal outcome for us. We can only use the tools, or the guitars, at our disposal. It is small in the grand scheme of things but we wanted to feel we have tried to do something.

“I would like to thank Conor, Eamonn and Stephen, and Monica Nixon for the harmonies.”