"We Can Make a Difference in This World"

"I was told as a child, 'You're blind; you can't do this,'" guitarist and singer Raul Midon once told an interviewer. "I was told when I moved to New York, 'You can't do that, you're not going to make it.'"

How grateful the world can be that Midon didn't listen to the doubters.

Now 40 years old, Midon combines amazing versatility on the guitar, passionate vocalizing, and visionary songwriting to create compelling music. He even throws a little "vocal trumpet" into the mix.

I first became acquainted with Midon's music on TED.com. TED is a small nonprofit devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading." Its annual conferences in Long Beach, California, and Oxford, England, bring together some of the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk or performance of their lives--in less than 18 minutes. More than 500 of these presentations have been made available to the public so far, for free, and more of them are added to TED.com every week.

In the film clip below (around 9 minutes long) Raul Midon performs two original pieces, "Everybody" and "Peace on Earth." The second song, Midon acknowledges, is much darker in mood than the first, but in the end "peace on earth" still "lurks in the hallway" with the "ghost of war". Which will we choose? Which do we really want?

For your convenience, I've provided a transcript of both of Midon's songs (found beneath the video player). If you appreciate his music, you might check out his albums, the latest being Synthesis, released just this month.

Midon has certainly found a way to "make a difference in the world." He encourages us all to do the same, each in our own way. Individually and together, we can change the world.

(Note: If for some reason you can't see the video player below, click here to watch this film at Ted. com.

EVERYBODY

Picture yourself in a world where there's no-one else
nobody anywhere
A moment ago there were voices and faces to look upon
you can't see them anywhere
Nothing more to say
and no-one left to say it to anyway.

Oh, listen to what I say

Everybody can be somebody
and everybody is free to make a difference
Everybody can be somebody
Everybody is free to make a difference in this world.

Now picture a world where the people all feel their worth
Children are everywhere
Now there is a reason for everyone's time on Earth
Wondering why you should care, yeah
Nothing more to say
And only love can see us through, anyway

Oh, listen what I say, yeah

Everybody can be somebody
And everybody is free to make a difference
Everybody can be somebody
Everybody is free to make a difference

You don't have to be a big celebrity
To feel the power, the power in your soul, no
You don't have to be a big star on MTV
To realize that in your eyes is a view that only you can see

Everybody can be somebody
Everybody is free to make a difference in this world
You can make a little difference in this world
I can make a little difference in this world
She can make a little difference in this world
He can make a little difference in this world
You can, I can, he can, she can
We can make a little bit of difference in this world....

PEACE ON EARTH

There is no hope
There is no future
No faith in God to save the day
There is no reason, no understanding
No sacred place to hide away
There is no earnest conversation
No words of wisdom from the wise
There is no reconciliation
And no collective compromise

Peace on Earth
That's what we want
Peace on Earth
That's what we all say
Peace on Earth
Yet, there in the hallway
lurks the ghost of war
He wants more and more and more and more
and more and more and more and more

There is no darkness, no sunshine
There is no great society
There is no freedom of conviction
There is no freedom to be free
There is no heaven, no fire and brimstone
There is no brotherhood of man
There is no country, no one religion
There is no universal plan.

Peace on Earth
That's we want
Peace on Earth
That's what we all say
Peace on Earth
Yet, there in the hallway
lurks the ghost of war
He wants more and more and more and more
and more and more and more and more

The answer is
mutual assured destruction
A balance of power
A weapon for everyone
Mutual assured destruction
bringing peace to everyone.

Peace on Earth
That's what we want
Peace on Earth
That's what we all say
Peace on Earth
There in the hallway
Peace on Earth....