Willie Nelson

Hear ”A Peaceful Solution” by Patty Ann Smith

Here is a wonderful version of “A Peaceful Solution” by Patty Ann Smith of Charleston, South Carolina with Craig Smith providing guitar and additional vocals. As a singer and songwriter she brings a polished style and a very soothing feel to her version.

I’ve played the Patty Ann Smith version of “A Peaceful Solution” over and over to let her comforting vocals wash over me. It is easy for me to believe that Patty Ann Smith strongly identifies with the song by the way in which she makes it her own during her performance.

It is easy to be impressed with Patty Ann Smith because of both her deep feelings and her art of sharing those feelings through her music. All of us here at the Willie Nelson Peace Research Institute appreciate this greatly. One of the best returns that we have received from this website is our discovery by like-minded artists.

We have also had the privilege of being contacted by many who express these thoughts in the comments and emails. Statistics tell us these people are just the tip of the iceberg. We know there must be many others who don’t have access to the Internet. And even among those who do have access, many haven’t found us yet.

And out of those who have found us, many only listen to the music, watch the videos, read the posts and move on without leaving more than a trace in the web server logs. We can only hope that they spread the word in their own way.

When someone steps out and records their version and sends it to us we know that they are the few among many. It is an honor to acknowledge these individuals. We do what we can in the way of finding out more about them.

We visit their websites and solicit information from them. It is thrilling to be discovered by Patty Ann Smith because she is active online. Patty Ann Smith keeps a website, a blog and a mySpace page in addition to singing and songwriting.

Patty Ann Smith does all of this with a message of peace.

Now I’d like to let her tell something about herself.

Patty Ann Smith writes about what inspired her to do her version of “A Peaceful Solution”:

The first thing that impressed me about the song was that Willie and someone he loved were writing it together. The second was that the title and repeated phrases were like a mantra…and it would be good to have those words rippling out into the world in as many directions as possible.

I was what some would call an “invisible child”. Nobody gave me a paint set or a musical instrument. Nobody made a fuss over me. I was just “there”.

But, I loved being out in nature always creating wonderful things in my head. So even though I was in some ways oppressed, in my mind’s imagination I was free! And every time I saw someone sad, I wanted to bring him or her joy. I wanted them to be happy like me.

As a child I didn’t know I was oppressed. I only knew what made me happy, and later on, I discovered that one word for it was ” imagination”. The “art of imagination”! WOW!

The sky’s the limit and I want to share that with everyone here.

Imagination is in all of the arts, and the arts are so powerful that they can set you free, give you peace and make you well no matter where you are and no matter what individual unique circumstances you’re in. So, as for my ideas for peaceful solutions: They ALL revolve around nature, music and the rhythms of life.

I take my role as a planetary citizen very seriously.

I am passionate about the breathtaking beauty of our earth and its inhabitants. From the time I was a child, I’ve always been aware of the interconnectedness of all things. I have studied Native American Medicine and other indigenous peoples’ methods of healing both inside and outside university classrooms.

Even though I’ve performed music before both small and large audiences, at this point in time my inspirations, ideas, and energy are being spent almost exclusively on my concerns about the survival of the people, plants and animals of this planet.

I am using my music to help others to still be able to see some of the beauty on this earth in these trying times.

May World Peace be in all of our futures.

We must co-exist together for the benefit of all life. Many of the unfortunate things that are happening in North America and as far away as in Africa and beyond are because we have not paid enough attention to our connection to the animals. When we disrupt their habitat, we disrupt our own as well.

We have shunned the wisdom of the elders about the cycles and seasons of life and having reverence for Mother Earth. We have thought man was almighty. We have thought that by controlling, we could win at any cost.

We thought that because we could do it to helpless animals, we could also do it to helpless humans.

Man has been wrong.

There is no action whether good or bad that doesn’t have a consequence.

Hear ”A Peaceful Solution” by Patty Ann Smith

Tags: Arts, Peace

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