A Hip-Hop Song For Caregivers

[AUDIO] By Dalia Colón -

If caregiving had a soundtrack, what genre would it be? Folk? Oldies? Gospel?

How ’bout hip-hop with a reggae twist? That’s the feel of Perfect Harmony, a new song that celebrates caregivers.

Here’s a taste:

Linda Burhans asked Chad Harper to write a song honoring caregivers. The result was "Perfect Harmony." (Photo courtesy of Harmony Home Health.)

In case you missed it, the chorus goes: “All my caregivers around the world today / It’s time to lift you up! / It’s time to celebrate! / It’s time to give give give give… the love that you gave to our lives.” To read all the lyrics, click here.

This is how the hip-hop, caregiving mash-up was born:

Chad Harper is the founder and CEO of Hip Hop Saves Lives, a New York nonprofit that writes and sells songs to raise money for clean drinking water in Africa and Haiti. Linda Burhans is a caregiver advocate at Harmony Home Health in Largo and the author of Good Night and God Bless, a memoir about caring for her cancer-stricken mother. When Harper came across Burhan’s story on the inspirational website DailyGood.com, he decided to write a song about her. Once Harper sent Burhans a link to Random Acts of Kindness, the two became fast friends.

Burhans then asked if Harper would write an anthem for caregivers. So in August, Harper and his colleagues penned Perfect Harmony. The song’s official release was Monday during an event observing National Family Caregivers Month at Harmony Home Health.

Harper says caregiving and hip-hop aren’t as odd a pairing as they may seem.

“I think that the sound of hip-hop is much more universal than the lyrics of the average hip-hop song. That’s why we created this project: because we know people love to dance to the beat and sound of hip-hop, but often the lyrics don’t represent something positive,” said Harper, 39. He hopes the song encourages caregivers of all ages.

“Caregivers give so much to the people that they’re taking care of, and the people who are being taken care of often are not in the proper mind state or physical state to show love back to the person that’s caring for them,” said Harper, cared for his ailing grandmother when he was in his early 20s. “So we wrote this song as if the person who is being cared for is speaking to their caregiver.”

To download the full version of Perfect Harmony for $1.99, click here.

This reporter can be reached at daliacolon@wusf.org.