This holiday season, crooner Aloe Blacc sends love to the families of those who lost someone, especially the families of those who were (unfortunately) given national attention after being victims of police brutality and the Paris terror attacks.
On his acoustic guitar-laden song “Merry Christmas Mr. Brown,” Blacc sings directly to the families of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, and Oscar Grant; the title is directed towards Mike Brown’s father. One line is directed towards Trayvon Martin’s father: “New Year’s Eve, Mr. Martin / When you look up at the sky / See the fireworks that sparkle bright / Like the light in Trayvon’s eyes,” he sings.
According to NPR, the song has been in the making since last year after Brown’s murder. “I was inspired and moved to write a memorial to the Brown family. But so many more deaths had occurred that I just felt compelled to expand the memorial to more families of victims of violence,” Blacc told NPR. “I chose the specific families because those were victims that were spoken about on television and in the media most widely, and I wanted to humanize the victims, to humanize the situation in such a way that didn’t discuss the protests and it didn’t discuss police brutality, but simply discussed the real human emotion around losing someone, so that everybody could connect through what these families are feeling.”
He the song was recorded ten days after the attacks on Paris in November, to which he added the line: “Sitting on a train in Paris / Where the streets are cold and bare / And I wonder if it’s gonna ever / Feel like Christmas again out here,”
“In remembrance of the many lives lost. Our love endures,” write Aloe in the caption.
Watch the heartfelt video above.
