【慧园】第七届年度美国最佳歌曲奖揭晓，由Randall Effner制作的 “让他们自由” 获得抒情创作的荣誉奖。

由作曲家和抒情诗人创办的美国歌曲大赛意在帮助词作者和诗人能够提高他们的水平，同时借此机会，让他们的音乐能够有机会被音乐发行商，制片商和音乐媒体听到。每个参赛者都会收到比赛评委的书面评语。今年，该赛事庆祝成功举办的第七个年头。

今年的比赛共计有1800名选手参加，在抒情写作方面有500人。在这一组里，除了第一名奖项，还有四首歌荣获“杰出成就奖”，八首歌获“决赛选手”十五首歌，包括“让他们自由”获“荣誉”奖。

“让他们自由”最初创作于2005年夏天，在华盛顿DC林肯纪念堂前的“退党”集会上。从那时起，这首歌在全世界的多次退党游行中被多次演奏，或者是现场演奏或是录音，这些游行地方包括纽约，波士顿，迈阿密，澳大利亚，伦敦和其它地区。这首歌所到之处受到了观众的热烈回应。

Randal说：“华盛顿DC的朋友让我为那次有关退党运动的集会写首歌。实际上我也考虑过写一首这样的歌好长时间了。他的请求更刺激了我的创作欲望。我记得60年代民权运动时歌曲所起到的巨大作用。当时是音乐最大的激励了冷漠的学生包括我采取行动。我想，或许理想主义还在，只是睡着了，等着火花再次将它点燃。”

我对收到音乐界如此受尊重的团体的奖项感到极为荣幸和高兴，但是它也是一种考验，因为我必须记住为什么自己创作这首歌，不是成为明星或出售CD。我想借此呼吁停止在中国大陆对法轮功修炼者和其它无辜百姓的迫害。这是我的目标，这也是这首歌的目标，我想这个奖项及发行会加深实现这一目标。我希望更多的人能够学唱“让他们自由”，并且在退党集会上演唱，或任何需要人们了解真相的场合。

“有人问我此歌是献给谁的，人们可以根据自己的意愿去解读，对我来说，是对政府和自由世界的人们的直接呼吁。同时，这是一个挑战，或更准确的说，是对中共政权的要求，‘让人民自由’，最后，是发自内心的请求，让宇宙中所有的正义力量‘让他们自由’”。

去年夏天，当我写这首歌时，面临着很紧的截止时间。没有时间预约去音乐室，我不得不在一个朋友的家里完成录制工作。原版录音极富激情，但制作有点粗糙。从那时起，我们不断改進，并且得到了专业音乐室的帮助。现在，我们可以向世界推出新录制的“让他们自由”。

Randall和他的女儿莎拉一起从事音乐创作已数年。他们现在正建一个网站www.justicewillprevail.com，介绍他们的歌曲，最后还将选用其他人的音乐。

歌曲：“让他们自由”/music/articles/9/26071.html

[歌词：中文翻译]

我听到自由的钟声再度回响
那钟声曾经在风中缓缓吟唱
中国人携起手来，把自由向往
时候已到，告诉世界一个真实的共产党

我想为这首歌配一幅画
关于中共如何迫害法轮大法
你是教徒或者是民主领袖
你会遭到监禁，无法回家

让他们自由 让他们自由 让他们自由 让他们自由
让他们自由 让他们自由 让他们自由 让他们自由

劳改营就是人间地狱
你忍饥挨饿，还要被洗脑和毒打
无处申诉那些酷刑和虐杀
没有法律和正义，因为那还是中共的天下
他们掩盖罪恶，将其描述得灿若朝霞

自由世界应该把自由捍卫
但我们却为利益把人权摧毁
我们看见奴工和酷刑，却视而不见
我却不能坐视屠杀的大罪

让他们自由 让他们自由 让他们自由 让他们自由
让他们自由 让他们自由 让他们自由 让他们自由

世界不该忘记柏林墙
人们欢呼雀跃着自由的光芒
中共党魁那天瑟瑟发抖
因为来日无多，他们将血债血偿

红色的恶龙不再飞扬
九柄利剑已将其彻底毁伤
几百万人公开退党
世界将因此再现辉煌

让他们自由 让他们自由 让他们自由 让他们自由
让他们自由 让他们自由 让他们自由 让他们自由

[英文] "Set Them Free" Wins Award in the 7th Annual Great American Song Contest

The results of the 7th Annual Great American Song Contest have been released, and among the winners was "Set Them Free" by Randall Effner, which received an "Honor" award for Lyric Writing.

Created by songwriters, the Great American Song Contest focuses on helping songwriters and lyricists improve their skills while providing opportunities to have their work be seen and heard by music publishers, producers, and music media. Every entry receives a written evaluation from the contest judges. This year, the contest celebrated its seventh successful year as a respected international songwriting event.

This year's contest had 1800 entries overall, with 500 entries in the Lyric Writing category. In this group, in addition to the first place winner, four songs earned "Outstanding Achievement" awards, eight won awards as "Finalists" and fifteen more songs, including "Set Them Free" won "Honor" awards.

"Set Them Free" was originally written in the summer of 2005 for a large march and rally to "Quit the CCP" (Tuidang) held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Since then, it's been performed live or recordings of it have been played at numerous Tuidang rallies around the world, including New York, Boston, Miami, Australia, London, and other places. It has met with an enthusiastic response from audiences wherever it was performed.

In Randall's words: "A friend in Washington DC asked me to try to write a song for the rally, something specific to the movement to Quit the CCP. Actually, I had already been thinking about writing such a song for a long time, and this provided the added incentive I needed. I remembered the powerful impact the protest songs of the 60s had on the civil rights movement. It was that music, more than anything else, that turned rather apathetic students such as myself into activists. I thought, 'Maybe that idealism is still out there, lying dormant, waiting for the right spark to ignite it again.'

"I'm very pleased and grateful to have received this award from this highly respected group of music-industry professionals. But it's also a test of sorts. I have to remember why I'm doing this. I am not seeking to be a star or sell CDs. I want to end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and other innocent people in China. That is my goal, that is the song's goal, and I think this award and the publicity surrounding it will further that goal. I hope that now, even more people will learn "Set Them Free" and sing it at Tuidang events, or anywhere else where people need to hear the truth.

"Someone asked me who the song is addressing, who it's talking to. Well, people can interpret that however they wish. To me it is a direct appeal to the governments and people of the free world. At the same time, it's a challenge, or more properly, a demand to the communist regime in China, to "let these people go." Finally, it is a heartfelt plea to all the righteous forces in heaven: 'Set Them Free!' It is all of these things at once.

"When I wrote the song last summer, I was up against a tight deadline. There was no time to make an appointment at a studio, so I recorded it at a friend's house. That original recording had a lot of spirit, but it was kind of rough. Since then, we've worked on it some more, and got some great help from professional studios both here in Missouri where I live and also in Florida. So, this seems like a good time to re-introduce our new recording of 'Set Them Free' to the world."

Randall and his daughter Sara have been working together to make music for several years. They are now in the process of building a website, www.justicewillprevail.com which will feature their songs and eventually music by others as well.

Set Them Free

Words and Music by Randall Effner
Vocals: Randall, Dianna, and Sara Effner
Arrangement and Guitar: Adrian Morales
Recorded at Wimmercreek Studio, Jefferson City, Missouri, and Heiga Studio, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
Final mix at Heiga Studio, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

I hear the chimes of freedom ring again
I heard them once before when they were blowin' in the wind
The Chinese people walk in chains, they're longing to be free
It's time to tell the world the truth about the CCP

I'd like to paint a picture in this song,
About what it's like in China if you practice Falun Gong,
Or if you are a Christian or you're for democracy
They'll put you in a prison cell and throw away the key.

Chorus:
Set them free! set them free! set them free! set them free!
Set them free! set them free! set them free! set them free!

The labor camps are like a living hell
Where you're beaten, starved and brainwashed and there's nowhere to appeal
There is no law or justice, there is just the CCP
Who hide their evil deeds behind a cloak of secrecy.

The free world should stand up for liberty
But now we sell out human rights to buy a cheap TV,
We see slavery and torture and we turn our head aside
I'd rather spend a little more than pay for genocide.

Repeat Chorus

The world will not forget the Berlin Wall
And how the people danced with joy, just to see it fall
The Chinese leaders shake with fear remembering that day
They know their time is almost up and soon they'll have to pay.

The blood red dragon can no longer fly
Nine swords have pierced its armor and it looks about to die
Now millions of its members have renounced it publicly
The world will be a better place without the CCP.

Repeat Chorus
Raise Pitch One Step and Repeat Chorus