Ottawa Singer/Songwriter Christophe Elie Releases ’60s-Influenced Folk Ode “Columbia” in Support of Students Protesting the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
As a tribute to the students at Columbia University who have been protesting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ottawa-based singer/songwriter Christophe Elie has penned the new single “Columbia.” The song is in support of those calling for a ceasefire and the separation of the university from arms manufacturers and the war industry.
Elie has followed the Israeli Palestinian struggle. His interest in world affairs stems from his mother who was arrested in the Civil Rights movement of the ’60s. “She is my main source of context and inspiration,” he says.
Seeing a parallel between the Columbia protests and the courageous activism of the ’60s, Elie penned the folky, introspective tune with the chorus of Columbia /The conscience of the people /Columbia/ The students’ cry for peace.
“After the Hamas attack on October 7, I followed events daily and was hopeful in that first week, when Biden traveled to Israel. I thought, ‘He’ll help outline a path forward. He’ll lower the temperature.’ But it was just the opposite,” says Elie. “Then the students stood up! I thought ‘fuck – finally someone is standing up and saying this just isn’t right.’”
He also felt that the students were being thoughtful, and mindful in the protests, even though they were painted as just the opposite in the media.
“The students were not being honoured; they were being portrayed as troublemakers, as antisemitic, yet the protests had considerable Jewish representation,” he notes.
The international multi-faith student movement gained momentum earlier this year, and even into this new student semester, after students at Columbia University occupied the campus’ historic Hamilton Hall, renaming it ‘Hind’s Hall,’ after Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Gazan girl who died along 6 members of her family on the streets of Gaza as they fled the city
“Columbia University is like the coal mine and the students are the canaries,” Elie asserts. “These recent encampment protests mirror the Columbia University student occupation in 1968, when students and faculty raised their voices about the Vietnam War, just prior to the Kent State shootings. This new student uprising is a warning to our society and it’s a red flag being raised.”
In fact, the song was written specifically in the spirit of Neil Young’s “Ohio” about Kent State.
Christophe Elie is in the midst of recording his third full-length album. As a political folk singer, he is driven to write music when he sees injustice. He is a bilingual artist who has written songs about Canadian Indigenous relations, Quebec’s discriminatory Bill C-21, war and peace, and the international emigration crisis.
“Columbia” was recorded locally with producer Gareth Auden Hole and was mastered by legendary music producer Rob Fraboni (The Last Waltz), treated with his groundbreaking RealFeel ™ technology. The song features Juno Award winner Matt Sobb (MonkeyJunk) on drums, Indigenous artist David Finkle on bass and banjo, Susan Murphy and Jill Shipley on backup vocals, and James Renaud on congas.
All proceeds from the song will go to UNICEF, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund to support their work in Gaza.
“It’s often hard to make sense of why things are happening in this world,” Elie muses. “Songs are a way to shine a different kind of light on a topic and break it down to help us better understand it. And at a time when artists are silenced, and poets like Refaat Alareer are dying in this conflict, it’s incumbent on all artists to step up and share their voices.”
Hi, Christophe! Good to meet you! Care to introduce yourself to the readers?
Good to meet you as well! Hey CanadaBeats readers/listeners, I’m a Canadian/American Political Folksinger, guitarist Acoustic/Electric(Taylor/Fender), I host a monthly Songwriters group and a weekly radio show – Songs for the Revolution. I’m also a bit of a newshound. I find myself steeped in the news of the world each day, trying to make sense of it all. I’m also raising a teenage daughter in this world, so issues like climate change, poverty, and war take on a particular urgency, when I think of the future she’s inheriting. It inspires me though every day to try and respond creatively to what’s going on, which often involves sitting down with my guitar, sometimes piano, and writing about what I’m thinking through or sometimes it’s heading out to a protest with my guitar! Most recently here in Ottawa, the Save Hunt Club Forest protectors and I would hit the street close to the trees and play songs for the commuters to raise awareness that our community’s tall pine forest was under threat from Ottawa’s Airport Authority.
What inspired you to draw a parallel between the Columbia University protests and the activism of the 1960s in your song “Columbia”?
While I didn’t grow up in the 1960s, that era of “peace and love”, has been for me, the well that never runs dry, whether it’s a source of musical inspiration, like Dylan, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, Marvin Gaye or the protest culture seeking a more just world for all, there’s always a new story to inspire you. I had heard about a Vietnam protest at Columbia University, a week-long occupation of Hamilton Hall in 1968, from Juan Gonzales (Democracy Now, co-host) and have since heard of other demonstrations through the years, between the 60s and now.
I thought, here it is 56 years later, and again the students are forced to call for peace while our governments push for war.
Your mother’s involvement in the Civil Rights movement seems to have profoundly influenced your worldview. Can you share more about how her activism shaped your approach to writing politically charged music?
My Mom would give me books to read like the Autobiography of Malcolm X, I came across poets like Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison, through her influence, that helped shape my view. My Mother, when she was at Syracuse College would picket with friends in front of apartment buildings that were refusing to accept African American tenants, even though she was not African American herself. This helped me understand that it was important to not just distinguish wrong from right, but that when a group of people are being discriminated against, that it’s important to stand beside them, in their protest. That tuned me in early on to Human rights, and issues of social justice and that’s when I’d pick up my guitar and begin writing. A quote that best describes it for me is Martin Luther King Jr’s “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. My Mom’s activism made it clear that it was about taking action, so for me, it was writing songs, but it didn’t end there, you need to also write letters, and attend the rallies!
You see Columbia University as a ‘canary in the coal mine’ for society. What message do you hope your listeners will take away about the role of student activism in shaping global consciousness?
Well, I see the Students at Columbia as the canaries, I’m seeing Columbia more and more like a coal mine(a relic of the past) given their violent response to the students. Let’s not forget, that these students, are also adults, focused on higher learning at University or College, perhaps we should take them more seriously their views. In the case of the conflict in Gaza, the ICJ has stated this could be a Genocide, even if it’s just a chance shouldn’t the world be taking action to stop this? Regarding divestment, I would say, is it not prudent to know what you’re investing in and shouldn’t those investments be aligned with your values, and do schools not have an even higher responsibility in this regard to show leadership? The students should keep at it and let’s all be more open to their message, a message of Peace can only help our global consciousness.
You mentioned poets like Refaat Alareer losing their lives in this conflict. What role do you believe artists play in times of global crisis, and how do you see yourself fulfilling that responsibility with “Columbia”?
I believe artists, in times of global crisis, have an opportunity to dig deeper into what is happening, the history, those involved, and outside forces. Be discerning, and don’t just accept the views of the governments, and the Countries involved, raise your voice, and not just artists, all of us who can. As for Columbia, I hope students hear it and are encouraged to continue to speak out. The song should remind people, that the bombs are continuing to fall in Gaza, a ceasefire was needed months ago. And let’s not forget the people of Gaza and the West Bank and their struggle for liberation from the Israeli occupation and blockade. When the voices of artists in a conflict are silenced, it’s important, that those of us, with the opportunity and privilege, speak up!
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