Berklee World Strings ft Mayssa Karaa - Call Me a Stranger (Live at Berklee)

Alumna Mayssa Karaa performs her original "Call Me a Stranger" live with Berklee World Strings. Directed and arranged by Eugene Friesen. Originally from Lebanon, Mayssa has called the US her home for the last 11 years. Like many people of middle eastern origin, she contends with the daily struggle with mistrust, often judged as guilty until proven innocent. For Mayssa, having to prove that she isn’t some kind of threat to westerners and no different from them demanded examination. “I knew that mine wasn’t a unique experience and the song speaks to everyone feeling this way, by addressing the people who wrongly fear the unknown.” "I could have been you, You could have been me It's all in the hands of destiny" These lines speak to the fact that we’re all born into the lands we love and call home by accident, whether that’s America, Lebanon, anywhere. Fate has dictated who we are, and but for that, we could easily be standing in each other’s shoes. "You could have been me I could have been you Nothing to fear Nothing to lose" At heart, we’re all the same, but it’s often forgotten. Now seems like the perfect time to start remembering. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mayssa Karaa: Subscribe:    / mayssakaraa   Facebook:   / mayssakaraa   Instagram:   / mayssakaraa   Twitter:   / mayssakaraa   Site: https://www.mayssakaraa.com Berklee: Subscribe: http://bit.ly/1MjVyEN Facebook:   / berkleecollege   Twitter:   / berkleecollege   Instagram:   / berkleecollege   Site: https://www.berklee.edu Learn more about Berklee College of Music’s Composition program: https://bit.ly/2SKZ5mx Call or email Berklee’s Office of Admissions today for more information: 1-800-BERKLEE (US) 1-617-747-2222 (international callers) [email protected] Audio can be heard on: https://open.spotify.com/album/2B6zcM... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077H885H6 https://play.google.com/store/music/a... http://www.deezer.com/us/album/51720282 https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/cal... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arranged and directed by: Eugene Friesen Performed by the "Berklee World strings" featuring: Violin: Layth Sidiq (Jordan) Cello: Naseem Alatrash (Palestine) Kanun: Tony Barhoum (Palestine) Oud: Amal Waqar (Oman) Percussion: Gilbert Mansour (Lebanon) Drums: Maxime Cholley (France) Berklee World Strings: violin I Serena Harnack Louisa Byron Audrey Budington Seoyeon Im Connor Foubister Kathleen Parks Fernanda Perera violin II Pei Hua "Cynthia" Lin Yeonsong Ruah Kim Louise Bichan Ya Yuan Hsu Cansu Ozyurek Hannah Baker viola Gerson Eguiguren Jennifer Frantz Cecilia Cook Wan Ching Chou Brendan Klippel cello Aodan Collins Cristobal Cruz Garcia Caitlin Thomas Yuezhang Liu bass Victor Gonzalez Marcelo Maccagnan Giuseppe Cucchiara Music and Lyrics written by: Mayssa Karaa, Richard Jacques and Kyler England. Recording engineer: Alex Rodriguez Mastering engineer: Jonathan Wyner Regina Crisosto Jequier: video edit Jeannie Greeley: camera Kevin Greene: camera AH: camera Emily Yang: camera Gabriel Gomez: camera -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lyrics: Tell me which land shall I call home the one beneath my feet, or the one across the ocean I have a story to be told but you've made up your mind, and my name has been stolen Let me help you understand what I've lived and who I am I could have been you You could have been me it's all in the hands of destiny don't you know that I'm no danger? You could have been me I could have been you nothing to fear and nothing to lose don't you know that I'm no danger? but you call me a stranger call me a stranger call me a stranger Meet me in the place where we can see the me in you, the you in me we both know Surrender all that you believe Imagine we could live to see tomorrow Let me help you understand what I face and where I stand Edited by Regina Crisosto Jequier Berklee College of Music | String | Live Music | Orchestra | Lebanese Music | Violin | Cello