“You Have to Be There” | National Humanities Center

Humanities Moments

“You Have to Be There”

July 17, 2020

Corkin, Averill (Graduate Student, Harvard University)

Singing; Humanities; Performing Arts

Averill Corkin describes the moment she decided to major in the humanities after seeing a video performance of the song “Du måste finnas” (“You Have to Be There”), in which a female refugee, overcome with loss and fear, questions the existence of God. She notes, despite the language difference, she understood the woman’s experience through the melody and the nature of her performance. She goes on to talk about the power of the humanities to connect us through our appreciation of art regardless of geographic, cultural, and language boundaries.


Subjects

Music / Singing / Humanities / Performing Arts /

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