Peter Hollens' take on an Assassin's Creed song and the echoes of the Ukrainian Crisis
Thanks to the magic of Youtube related videos/recommendations algorithm, I stumbled across singer Petter Hollens' version of "Underground" - a song from Assassin's Creed: Syndicate video game.
As I listened, I couldn't shake the feeling that it reminded me of something I heard before. Especially toward the beginning. And, thinking it over, I realized what it was. Plive Kacha, a Ukrainian folk song. Specifically, the version that was played during the climactic scene of Maidan - the documentary about the eponymous fall=winter 2013 protests in Ukraine.
I don't think Hollens was influenced by it. Honestly, I would be surprised if he's even seen the documentary. It wasn't exactly high-profile, and unless you have any investment in what's going on in Ukraine, you probably missed it entirely. And besides, it's not like the songs are that similar.
I've hard a few hours to think about it, and I'm starting to wonder if maybe it's just me. Maybe I just happened to draw a connection between solemn, soulful songs that happened to have somewhat similar backing track(s). Maybe others would think these songs aren't alike at all.
But even if that's the case - it's interesting what sort of unpredictable response a performance can invoke.
Click to viewAs I listened, I couldn't shake the feeling that it reminded me of something I heard before. Especially toward the beginning. And, thinking it over, I realized what it was. Plive Kacha, a Ukrainian folk song. Specifically, the version that was played during the climactic scene of Maidan - the documentary about the eponymous fall=winter 2013 protests in Ukraine.
I don't think Hollens was influenced by it. Honestly, I would be surprised if he's even seen the documentary. It wasn't exactly high-profile, and unless you have any investment in what's going on in Ukraine, you probably missed it entirely. And besides, it's not like the songs are that similar.
I've hard a few hours to think about it, and I'm starting to wonder if maybe it's just me. Maybe I just happened to draw a connection between solemn, soulful songs that happened to have somewhat similar backing track(s). Maybe others would think these songs aren't alike at all.
But even if that's the case - it's interesting what sort of unpredictable response a performance can invoke.