With the end of the school year looming over their heads and the isolation orders still in place, the Swing Band Singers of Chester Catholic High School were forced to cancel their end of the year concert. Instead, a few of the most creative students decided to write a song in honor of isolation, and in keeping with the Catholic tradition of charity, they turned the whole affair into a fundraiser.
In an interview with Shallie Ehlen, of Cheshire-Live, the girls explained that the song, “When It’s All Over,” was written by six students along with their vocal coach. Nessa Owen, one of the students credited with the composition, told Ehlen:
“When we were writing the lyrics we thought about the things that we had taken for granted before we went into lockdown and how much we are looking forward to being able to enjoy the company of our friends and family again.”
The song starts slowly, but the chorus is incredibly catchy and makes for a great pop song. The video highlights the world isolation from a teen’s point of view, referencing many coming-of-age practices — like learning to drive and going out with friends — that have been sadly unavailable to the young adult community. The video also features dozens of people from the community, who chime in with videos from isolation, and even a few musicians playing along.
The song has great potential to ease the ache of isolation through the hope that these kids bring for the future, but they were not content with just helping those in isolation. Instead, they decided to make a fundraiser out of the video, with the goal of raising over $500 for the Hospice of the Good Shepherd and NHS Charities Together. When this was written, they had already nearly tripled their goal, bringing in over $1500.
Justin Caroe, Community and Events Manager for the Hospice of the Good Shepherd expressed his enthusiasm for the student’s efforts. He told Cheshire-Live:
“We were delighted to be the chosen charity for this wonderful video.” He added, “It really encapsulates the community that we all live in and the challenges we are all facing together currently. I would like to thank everyone who had an input into making this video and to those kind people who have donated in support of the Hospice.”
The video, featured above, was released through Facebook, where comments on their fine work can be left. If you’d like to donate to their worthy fundraiser, click here.
And today we celebrate...