World-renowned Drakensberg Boys Choir dropped their latest single and music video, rendition of the Maroon 5’s hit single “Memories” on Friday.
This release is hot on the heels of the notable success of the choir’s music video of “Imagine Dragons Follow You” featuring The Sharks Rugby Team.
The music video garnered more than 500K views in less than two weeks of its release.
“We felt that this was a perfect song to dedicate to the legacy that the Drakensberg Boys Choir has grown over the last 55 years and becoming a South African national treasure while looking forward to the future of what the choir still has to give,” says artistic director Vaughan Van Zyl.
While the song serves as a dedication to the old boys and staff of the school, it also serves as a dedication to anyone who has lost someone dear to them in this devastating time the world is going through.
From the pandemic to the July 2021 unrest, to the war in Ukraine, these are the trying times for most people across the world.
Producer and arranger of this single, Tristan Tent elaborates on the musicality of their cover version of “Memories”: “While the original Maroon 5 song has very little productive elements and sticks to a simplistic production with a standard Rhodes piano and vocal, we decided that we wanted to give it a slightly more African flavour and put it into a more ‘House’ space.
“Therefore, percussive elements not found in the original song come in from the choruses.
“If you’re a keen listener of classical music, you will notice that you may have heard the chords to the song before in a very famous classical work called Canon in D by Johan Pachelbel.
“This arrangement of the song doesn’t shy away from the original chord idea and uses the melodies in the canon over the pop melodies of Memories if you listen carefully to the choir,” he explains.
“Memories” is available for streaming across all digital platforms.