Dear Jigme,

We hope you are moved by “Highway To Lhasa” on YouTube

The central theme of the song is expressed in its narrated sonnet:

What makes a nation great is not its size

It’s not the missiles not its fearsome hosts

It’s not the buildings not the oil supplies

It’s not some worn-out tales of ancient ghosts

Its people hold the secret of its power

Its people who disdain the way of force

Though murderous oppression knell the hour

Its peaceful people turn their country’s course

For who will stop the army of the meek

And who can bend the will that has no fear

And who will quell the wailing of the weak

The cry for freedom agonized and clear

The mighty crush the small and have their way

But peaceful souls will rise to win the day

People have asked me how the song came to be written. Quite simply, it was inspired by a documentary film about tiny Estonia at the end days of the Soviet Union. By simply singing, the Estonians were peacefully able to break the bonds of tyranny.

See “The Singing Revolution” trailer on You Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVYqFPq88VU.

It is my sincere hope that the American public is awakened to the Tibetan situation as a matter of “justice and morality,” which is how it was described by the Dalai Lama in Boston a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps songs are a way to help spark that awakening.

Best Regards,

Frank Tedesco

www.highwaytolhasa.com