A Song for Victims of Tian An Men Square

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Chinese students were slaughtered at Beijing’s Tian An Men Square one year ago on June 4, 1989. Philip Woo does not want anyone to forget it.

In commemoration of the massacre, the 33-year-old New York musician composed a song, “Tian An Men Square,” and convinced more than 40 artists and musicians, including Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, Michelle Shocked, Richie Havens and Valerie Simpson, to participate in a music video, which will be featured on segments of MTV News tonight.

“This song speaks about the struggle for human freedom in China and the passion for democracy demonstrated in the protest,” Woo said in a telephone interview from his New York office. “It’s important that the memory of these brave students lives on.”

Woo is a third-generation Seattle-born Chinese American with distant relatives in the province of Guandong, China. As a musician he has played keyboards and written music for recording artists such as Whitney Houston, Gladys Knight and Maze.

He founded the nonprofit Project for Tian An Men Square in December and asked his brothers Roger and John (owners of the New York film design and production company Woo Art International), to direct and produce the video for the song. The video fuses broadcast footage of the bloody massacre with studio performances from the artists, as well as material gathered from independent sources.

Unlike the one-night “We Are the World” recording date, the Project for Tian An Men Square took seven sessions and more than a month to complete. The song was recorded and mixed at several New York studios, each of which donated their time and materials. A number of Los Angeles artists and musicians were originally expected to add their voices to the project, but scheduling conflicts and time restrictions prevented their participation.

“We thought by now that we would have a record distribution deal for the song, but we don’t,” Woo said. “Still, we intend to keep pushing. This project is dear to all of us involved. If we have to put out the record and video ourselves, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Proceeds from the project, Woo says, will be used to underwrite groups dedicated to supporting humanitarian, educational and informational goals in China. The first recipient targeted for aid is the Boston-based Democracy for China Fund, a nonprofit organization run by Shen Tong, a student leader who escaped from China following the massacre.

But the issue of raising money, Woo says, is secondary. His primary concern is to raise awareness in the United States regarding the plight of people struggling for freedom in China and around the world.

“Many people are not allowed access to information. They are denied the most basic human and economic rights,” Woo said. “All around the globe, people are willing to die for privileges that we, as Americans, simply take for granted.”