Beijing Epilogue

Loren Haynes says he became obsessed with the pro-democracy efforts in China when students took over Beijing’s Tian An Men Square in May. In fact he had written a “very positive” song about the students’ efforts and was getting ready to record it when the students were massacred June 3.

“It just blew me away,” Haynes, an actor and singer-songwriter, said of the massacre. “It made me very upset--it hurt me because (the cause) had become a part of me.” So Haynes instantly rewrote his song, “Beijing,” and although he didn’t yet have a record label, he recorded the song two days later at his own expense.

The song talks poignantly of the students who died in Tian An Men Square, but true to Haynes’ believe that the students’ efforts produced lasting positive results, it ends on a positive note:

Let the world know tonight in Beijing

It’s the beginning of China’s Freedom Spring.

“(The song) shows the beauty of what happened and the shame of what happened, and that they did not die in vain,” Haynes said. “I want to let the students know that we, in this country, are aware (of their efforts). To let them know that this thing is playing throughout the country and people are not forgetting about what happened. If (the song) gets out to just one person in China, then they could know it was not in vain.”

Haynes, who has appeared in several TV shows, movies and stage productions, has received a good deal of media attention for “Beijing.” It was immediately picked up and translated by the Chinese International Newspaper, he said, and has been receiving airplay at more than 50 college radio stations across the nation, as well as a few alternative radio stations. It has also been used as a backdrop for student demonstrations in cities such as Chicago, Haynes said.

And yes, he says, the record has been smuggled into China.

“Someone I know that lives in Shanghai and happened to be in the Square during the June 3rd massacre was here and offered to bring the song (into China),” said Haynes, who performs Monday at At My Place in Santa Monica. “So it is somewhere in China, and I hope they can find a big loudspeaker somewhere and play it.”