Gary Barlow: On Her Majesty's Service (2012) Movie Script
1
Six months ago, Andrew Lloyd Webber
and I were given the honour of
writing a special song for the Queen
to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee.
This is the story
of the making of that song.
It would be really enjoyable
to have something
with these different sounds.
I know.
Our mission was to capture
the sounds
of the Queen's proudest achievement
- the Commonwealth.
I could listen to that for hours.
I set out to find musicians from
different cultures and backgrounds,
record them on their home turf
and blend them into one record.
Wow! This is great fun.
I want to be in your band!
I'd never done
anything like this before
and I wasn't even sure
it could be done.
A day to remember.
One I'll never forget.
'And my last stop would be
the most nerve-wracking...
'playing our record to the Queen.'
No pressure!
This is the Silver Jubilee, 1977,
a garden party for
the whole street in our back garden.
Both Nans are there.
Look, all the kids in the street.
Here we all are, celebrating.
Oh, there's me,
wanting to be noticed.
I mean, a lot of those people,
they're not people
we used to see every day...
everyone just invited everybody.
It brought everybody together.
Do you think? Yeah...
I mean, it's nice.
Is it weird?
Well, I think, I don't know
whether we need... it's very pretty.
Yeah, but we need a key word when
we don't like each other's ideas,
so you should say, "That sounds
great for the Platinum Jubilee,
"you should use
that for the Platinum Jubilee." OK?
Yes, OK.
So do you think I should save
that one for the Platinum Jubilee?
There's a touch
of the Platinum there.
Ah, OK!
So let's slow down a little touch.
Listen to...
OK, let me try this on top of it.
And keep it going.
Yeah, yeah, that's nice.
Ta da da-da...
We're telling everyone today
what we're doing.
We've been hiding it for so long.
..do dee-do.
I quite like that.
Yeah.
'This is letting the country know'
we've been commissioned to do this,
we're taking it seriously,
we're going on a journey,
and see you at the Jubilee.
So the reason you came in,
you're in charge of the official
single for the Diamond Jubilee.
You're going to write it together
and you embark upon Wednesday,
around the Commonwealth, looking for
musical influences and people
to take part in that story
and that journey, is that right?
Exactly. Who else has been involved
in the story so far?
I've heard rumours, whispers,
of Prince Charles being involved.
We're hoping to try
and get some guidance
from the family of the Queen
to try and help us make this thing
something she's going to enjoy.
Are you nervous? Is it
a great weight on the shoulders,
or another fantastic opportunity?
Great opportunity.
You look a bit more worried, Gary!
'This is quite big, so...'
It still puzzles me,
the whole idea of writing
a song for an event like this,
such an important day in the Queen's
life, and I want to get it right.
We're going to meet
the Prince of Wales today,
so I'm slightly nervous
and excited about that.
Young lad from Cheshire!
Your Highness!
Is there a Gary Barlow in here?
How are you?
I think I'm all right,
thank you very much.
Thank you for inviting us
to your house.
There's so much he's experienced
around the world, musically,
that I want to find out about.
Here we are, the Click Song,
let's see.
'Prince Charles was keen to play me
some of the world music
he'd heard on his travels.'
That's right. You see... unng...
you can't!
That's the mouth making that noise?
Yes, yes.
Amazing pictures.
If we can see a fraction of this...
There's a well known musician here.
That's me in disguise.
Much better shaven.
The difficulty sometimes is digging
out where these characters are
because they're not always
in the main street,
but then you find marvellous
things going on in little corners.
Yeah, well,
we need to travel, clearly.
These instruments are fascinating.
Aren't they wonderful?
Do you see, what IS that?
Actually, you must get these.
It would be really enjoyable
to have something with
these different sounds. I know.
For me, it's about picking
elements of this music,
pulling it out and adding it
to our record. Exactly.
Is it just one single?
It's one single.
But you could use all these people!
We could, actually.
We could make an ensemble,
a three-and-a-half minute ensemble.
Absolutely we could. Fantastic.
It's daunting,
but I like a challenge.
I'm going to go off travelling
and find these amazing musicians.
You're really good to do it.
Thank you, sir. The Queen will be
thrilled you've taken such trouble.
The Chris Evans
Breakfast Show - good morning!
'The order from the Palace said
"we want you to include
the Commonwealth".
'And so I'm actually going to go
round the world
'recording unique musicians
and adding them to this record,
and the very last thing...'
The Commonwealth is massive.
All right? Like, massive.
I mean, massive massive.
Antigua, Australia, Bahamas,
Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize.
No way on Earth we can get round
all of these countries.
Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, St Kitts
and Nevis. I got married in Nevis.
Without counting every one,
it looks like there's about 50.
The truth is it comes back
to the record.
We've got to remember
that's why we're going.
We're going to give this record
a feel that
the Commonwealth's on there.
We want it to sound rich
and, you know, full of personality.
There's musicians
all over the world
and we've just got to
dig them out.
We've got to dig them out
and find them.
So with just a simple piano version
of the melody
that Andrew and I have written,
it's time to hit the road.
I've got to write some lyrics
and find musicians
around the Commonwealth who can
put their own stamp on this record.
I'm starting my journey near the
equator in East Africa, in Kenya.
And there's a very special reason
why I've chosen to start here.
I'm at the safari lodge,
Treetops, at the very spot where
a young Princess Elizabeth spent
the night on February 5th, 1952.
Whilst here, she learned her father
had died, and she had become Queen.
I can't imagine being 25
and given this responsibility.
What a task, what a job.
What an undertaking
for such a young person.
I thought today would be
a brilliant time
to really start bashing
the lyric around.
I've taken with me
from my session with Andrew
the lyric Sing.
And I thought I'd soak up
the environment here
and the historic nature of this site
and see if it brought up
any new ideas.
Sing it louder
Sing it louder
Sing it
Sing it
Sing it louder.
'I couldn't think of anything
more perfect, really, '
that we're starting to write
the lyric of the song right here
in this historic place
where the Queen found out
she was going to be the Queen.
With the lyrics in place,
it's time to start recording.
I'm off to see an African
children's choir at a remote school
two hours' drive from Nairobi.
I've spent 20 years recording things
in dark studios with no light.
We're in Africa.
Look where we are,
look at the landscape.
If I was to imagine African music,
I think of those choirs singing
with their hands in the air.
That's it, that's what we want.
This is what we've come for.
Oh, yeah!
Wooo!
Wow. Hi!
Hi.
- How are you?
- We're fine, thank you.
Good. Do you do
everything at the same time?
Yes.
Your singing's amazing!
Thank you.
It really is, it's beautiful.
Do you know about the Queen?
Eunice?
She was born in 1926,
and also she made her first speech
when she was 14 years old.
Eunice, how do you know that?
Where did you learn this?
School. At school?
She likes dogs and horses.
She definitely likes dogs
and horses.
Yes, you? She's a great swimmer.
She's a great swimmer?
Do you know that for sure?
Questions for me? Yes. That's not
the deal, I ask the questions!
Are you in the band and
at the same time you are singing?
Exactly, I'm in a band.
There's four of us, sometimes five.
That could get confusing,
so I won't explain that one!
I'm actually here today
listening out for voices
hopefully to put on my record, so
would you guys be up for trying out
some harmonies and some melodies?
Yes.
'This is why
I wanted to do this trip, '
I wanted to be set up in the middle
of nowhere on a desk,
with all our fantastic technology,
battling against the elements.
Because we've had a horrible,
windy day, there's dust
in all our equipment.
Perfect. That's exactly how
I wanted it to be!
'This is the most glamorous studio
I've ever been to.'
You move in here. OK.
Now you guys at the back,
you come and fill the gaps in
between their shoulders now.
The first line of the song
I want you to sing
is the title of the song - Sing.
That's all you say - Sing.
But there's a melody.
The melody goes like this.
Si-i-i-i-ing.
So the end of the line
each time goes down
and the second time goes up.
With a one, two, three!
Just si-i-i-i-ing
Just si-i-i-i-ing
Just si-i-i-i-ing.
'It's the feeling you get
when you listen to them,
'because music's all about emotion.
'And the emotion that they gave me
today was I just feel great.
'I feel great.'
It's good, sounds beautiful.
All of a sudden, I thought,
wouldn't it be amazing
to get one of these kids
to start the track?
Make sure you stay nice and close
to the mic. That's it, here we go.
Some words...
Some words
they can't be spoken
Only sung
'When Lydia started to sing
I got really excited.
'Beautiful voice,
really innocent, as well.
'And the little bit of pronunciation
that tells you she's not American, '
she's not British,
she's from somewhere else.
'And that's the flavour.
'We know we've got the Commonwealth
now on this track.'
So hear a thousand voices
Shouting love.
Gorgeous, absolutely beautiful.
'Today we've started the record.
That's what's happened.'
All of a sudden, we have symmetry
in our track and the Queen's life.
She started her reign here
and our song's going to start here.
It's beautiful.
We've made a good start
but I've got many challenges ahead
to make a record fit for the Queen.
I'm off now to the Great Rift Valley
to visit a Maasai tribe.
This may sound stupid,
but I'm a little bit nervous.
They're actually quite daunting,
physically and the way they dress.
Wow!
Hello! Nice to meet you.
You're so very welcome.
Daniel, how old are you?
I'm 27 years old.
And do you get married here?
About the marriage, my father
and the father of the girl
will arrange the marriage.
You'll pay 10 cows or 15 cows
for one wife.
And if I want to get a second wife,
the second wife will be
chosen by my first wife.
Hang on, wait one second.
So you've got one wife? Yeah.
Your father chooses you
another wife?
No, my second wife will be chosen
by my first wife.
OK.
Imagine if we could all have
three wives who builds our houses
and milks our goats.
It's job done, innit?
Who's to say right or wrong?
They're all happy.
It's been amazing
to tiptoe into this.
The tribe were keen
to be on the record,
so now it was time for them
to show me what they could do.
I felt slightly intimidated, just
because I didn't know what to do.
To try and describe the sound...
It was like a battle
between the men and the women.
This was not going to be
straightforward.
I want to record
just a few different things. Yeah.
Hopefully we can try and play it
into the song somewhere.
It's very difficult to hear, though,
because everybody sings at one time.
One, two.
He-ey-ya.
You sing.
He-ey-ya.
Yeah, so here we go.
One, two...
He-ey-ya.
He-ey-ya.
Ready? Wait. One, two...
I've no idea at all how
I can use any of that in the record.
'It was just all too much for me
to take in.'
It's been lovely,
been great seeing this lifestyle
but I'm not on holiday here,
I'm trying to make record.
So these next few days are critical
for the record itself.
The Maasai have made me realise
just how much of a challenge
I've taken on.
There's music everywhere in Africa,
and I'm determined to find a way
to make it work on our record.
I want there to be people who've
never played on a record on here
but I also want
some professionals.
I want people who are well known,
and when I researched Kenyan music
Ayub was one of the most successful
musicians in this country.
So I'm looking forward to seeing
what comes of this session today.
Oh, I loved his track. I loved it.
I could have listened to that
for hours.
The only thing missing was
I could have got a nice massage
as he was playing it.
That would've been spot on, then.
Hi.
I really hate interrupting you
making music.
I'm so intrigued
about your instrument.
The good old nyatiti. It's, er...
What's it called again? Nyatiti.
Nyatiti?
Nyatiti, which translates
into "daughter of the clan". OK.
Have you spent some time in the UK?
I busked for about four years
in London. Did you really?
It was great for me
because it gave me
four years to work through
my instrument and perfect myself.
'It's a wacky old instrument'
but we've got to get it
on this track.
'I play Ayub the piano melody,
'hoping he can add
something special.'
Working with Gary
was actually surprisingly easy.
He's very easy going, he's precise
and he knows what he wants.
It flowed smoothly.
I think the word is "save"
at this point.
'Back in my hotel, and a chance
to listen to what I've recorded.'
How great was Ayub?
Who'd had ever thought we'd have got
that instrument on this record?
And Lydia. I mean,
what a star she was.
Some words they can't be spoken
Only sung.
It's sweet, really nice.
Now I need to find some percussion
to give the track its backbone.
My search brings me to Kibera.
Just three miles outside Nairobi,
it's one of the biggest slums
in Africa.
Nobody knows how many
hundreds of thousands of people
are crammed in here.
This is hard to describe. Real
poverty at its lowest, lowest level.
It's pretty hard to take it in,
I've got to be honest.
It's pretty hard to take it in.
And yet, from this poverty
springs a remarkable group
of percussionists
who call themselves
the Slum Drummers.
Where did these instruments come
from? Have you made them yourselves?
These are scrap metals. I see.
These are plastics that
street children collect and sell.
So all of these instruments,
it was just rubbish,
it was about to be thrown away?
Everything you have around you,
it has music in it.
It has the potential
to be an instrument.
It has the potential of music in it.
Whose invention was this?
Who knew this could make this noise?
We ourselves, we invented it,
because we just took a big, big pipe,
a very long pipe - we just hit.
You hit the end?
Yes, we hit at the end, and we heard
that that can produce sound.
Goosebumps have happened
for the first time
when they started to play.
Music is their lives.
This is their escape from where they
live, how they've been brought up.
Yeah, I love music.
Music is in me.
Though everyone here loves music.
It's like a passion we have.
Michael's a sad story.
I didn't actually realise
when I first went to meet them all
he was blind.
I guess he's needed music,
more so now than ever before.
I was looking round as they were
playing and he was lost.
He'd escaped somewhere
for those few minutes.
And, yeah, good on him.
No matter what you go through,
no matter what difficulties
you have,
you still have to stay strong.
You don't have to break down
and give up on everything.
You need to keep your head up
and keep focusing
on what you want to do.
You're reminded, wow, this is
a language we all speak, this is.
How much fun did I have?!
You know, a drum-off! It was great.
Really, I loved it. Loved it.
I think I'll remember that,
actually, for the rest of my life.
It was a beautiful moment,
to be somewhere like this
which is so far removed
from how and where I live.
That connection of music.
I'm taking it home with me.
Woooo!
Oh, yeah! Well done! Well done!
I think the problem is this.
That's the problem!
Well done. Amazing. Amazing.
Wow, this is great fun!
I want to be in your band!
Yeah, that's why I was asking you
if you'd been in a band.
You need to give...
I'm leaving that band!
Forget that band!
I'm coming in this band.
Time to record the guys
for the Queen.
I record their instruments
one by one.
I add them into the music
on my computer,
working out where they'll fit in.
OK, I think I'm there.
So... I've put you in there.
Like it?
Yeah, very much!
Music doesn't really need words
for you to understand it.
Just si-i-i-i-ing...
It's like a legacy.
Even after we've gone,
it will be a record
that will never be forgotten.
Genuinely, I've met
some special people today
and they've really touched me.
And I feel great.
I feel motivated now
to get on a plane
and finish this record.
Next stop, I'm off to the Caribbean
and to the realm Jamaica,
one of the 16 Commonwealth countries
where the Queen is Head of State.
I've been really looking
forward to coming here
and visiting the birthplace
of so much music.
First time ever in Jamaica.
Never been here before.
It's pretty off the scale,
this place, I've got to be honest.
We've just arrived here
in this market
and already, you know,
the people working in the stalls,
they're dancing.
There's music everywhere.
'Remembering what Prince Charles
told me
'about digging out characters
off the beaten track,
'I'm really keen to explore.
'I'm being led up
to a Rastafarian village
'to meet some drummers in
the Blue Mountains above Kingston.'
Every time I look up
it's getting higher!
Higher and higher!
'I feel like
I'm in the middle of nowhere.
'After a two-hour drive from town,
'and now a 45-minute hike
up this mountain,
'I'm not sure what to expect.'
Is this the start of the village?
Yeah.
Hello, nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.
He's also a singer.
He sings as well?
A chanter, and play the drums.
But I'm the singer here.
You're going to be!
You're going to be!
Is it finished? Am I finished?
We're going back down!
No, no,
you don't meet the priest yet!
He's the priest of the school now.
Oh, he's the priest?
Nice to meet you.
There's a very nice smell
in the air here.
Everything smells fresh and nice.
I think it has to do with
the altitude. Maybe.
I think we are more than
5,000 feet above sea level here. OK.
How do I make one of these?
I want one.
I am impressed
by his personality, yes.
I see congeniality there
in that person.
I need to try a bit harder.
When I leave today,
I'm going to start.
Oh, it is a pleasure, sir.
Brilliant.
The drumming starts
and it's like nothing
I've ever seen.
Raise the voice.
By special privilege
and for royal purpose,
we want to send out
a special blessing at this time
for the Kingdom of England.
'The drums are a key
part of the Rastafarian religion,
'and I'd love to get
a flavour of them on this record.'
It was incredible.
You know, small kids
really hitting these instruments
like their hands
must be made of steel.
I mean, it was passionate,
it was from the heart.
It was brilliant.
One kid who does catch my eye
is the priest's son,
12-year-old Selassie.
Priest? Yes, sir?
Can I see his hands? Selassie.
Wow. They play loud, very loud.
I would love to try
and get him on the record.
Selassie was great.
His timing was amazing.
You watch the way his hands move
and touch the different
parts of that drum.
He really owned that instrument.
Mm, rise up, rise up!
OK. OK.
He's commissioned by the Queen.
I don't think she could have found
anyone more equipped
to deal with this work
that he is doing.
That's my personal opinion
of the brethren.
I'm off on my travels now.
OK, sir. Guidance, protection
and blessings. Thank you.
A day to remember.
One I'll never forget.
Bye, everyone!
Now I've got to work out how I use
the drums on the record.
The little boy.
Sounds great.
If I just sneak the verse in...
It's good. It's going to work well.
Uhh! Say wha'?
Listen, market! Wow!
I drink up me rum
And me tongue be dumb
Me no wan' no girl
Complain at me.
Jamaica's music is every bit as rich
and authentic
as I hoped it would be.
Iron ball
An iron ball
Iron ball
An iron ball
Iron ball
An iron ball
Me no wan' no girl
Complain at me
I went upstairs
But the door was locked...
I'm not the only Brit to be enjoying
the culture of Jamaica.
Prince Harry is also here
on his Diamond Jubilee tour
of the Caribbean.
I join him at a community project
in downtown Kingston
and I'm intrigued to see
how Jamaican people respond
when royalty's in town.
The whole street outside,
everyone's going crazy.
Reminds me of my old days
in a boy band.
We're starting our recording.
We've done some already this morning
for the Diamond Jubilee song.
Yeah? Yeah.
We're here all week
and we're hoping to get you
on the track tomorrow.
Erm, last time I checked,
I can't sing!
Tambourine?
Oh, you want me to do a tune?
There's got to be some tambourine.
OK, well...
Just one hit?
One hit, I don't know.
It's going to cost you!
Bob Marley's One Love.
I think it must be lovely for him
to come out here
and see this reaction.
People love the Royal Family here.
There's no question about it.
They've turned out in their droves.
After all the excitement, I catch up
for a quiet chat with the prince.
How are you? You all right?
Yeah, not too bad. Good.
It's a pretty big year
for your family, isn't it?
It's a massive year, yes.
I can't speak for the rest
of my family,
but I've slightly taken
my grandmother for granted
over the years and this tour
has really opened my eyes
to the achievements that she's done.
The response to people celebrating
the Queen's Diamond Jubilee
has been absolutely amazing,
it really has.
I have to ask,
just because I've got you here,
but we are in charge of doing
this song for the Diamond Jubilee.
Any tips from you, as to what your
grandmother likes musically, or...?
It's been a very difficult
challenge, this has, for us.
I don't know whether to say
that honestly or not!
Other than drum and bass,
is there anything else she...?
If it spans across cultures,
she's going to love it. Yes.
If it's really, really loud
and modern music,
then she's probably not. OK.
She's an amazing woman
and she'll love anything.
She's seen it all. Of course.
And so you couldn't surprise her.
Or maybe you could, I don't know.
Try!
I'm desperate to get you
on this record.
I want you to play on it.
I've got a tambourine here.
It's going to be painless,
believe me!
All I want is two tambourine hits.
One like this.
Like what? Like...
Literally that.
Just that. Literally one tap.
And one more like this.
Nice! That was the ring.
I've loved this week.
I've loved getting out there
and going to places
I know, as a tourist,
I'd never have been to or seen.
There's music definitely
I've found here
I'd have never heard before.
I've opened my ears to Jamaica
and what they've got to offer.
Music superstar Gary Barlow
has arrived back in Australia.
First stop in here at Sunrise.
Tell us about the trips.
You've been to Jamaica, to Kenya,
you're now here in Australia.
Yes, we're on a mission
at the moment
because we're doing a one-off,
unique song for the Diamond Jubilee.
It's going to be a lot of influences
from all over the world,
and it's going to have
this worldly sound to it.
Good to see you, Gary.
Nice to see you. Safe travel!
Still ahead, when she was a he...
'Driving through
the outskirts of Sydney,
'there was one house
I couldn't miss.'
Look at this!
Oh, my goodness!
Wow!
Prince Charles sat in his seat.
Oh, this is class.
Shall we knock on? This way.
Between the Beefeaters.
I think I'm looking for Janet.
Hello!
Hello, I'm Gary. Nice to meet you.
Pleased to meet you. Welcome here.
Thank you, thank you.
And I'm Philip. Philip?
Yes. That's a royal name.
It certainly is!
Oh, my goodness!
You are officially royal mad.
I'm a nutter.
Wow.
Yeah.
Every cupboard in this house,
if I open, has royalty in it.
Here.
Every time you eat,
they're sat with you.
They're not much company,
I can tell you.
Just in case. Just in case.
Oh, here we go.
That is wonderful.
All just for a laugh.
And you use this for real?
Of course you do!
Of course you do, it's a throne!
It's got a royal flush!
I get this... real feel
about when I see the Queen.
I can be anywhere in the house
and the television will be on
and anything to do with Harry
or anything, I'm down here.
Just give us an idea
of this whole collection, what...?
The cost of it?
Oh, Philip, I think you're needed.
Philip, you're needed over there.
You go over there.
It has to be hundreds of thousands.
Don't tell him, for God's sake!
400,000 or 500,000?
Oh, it would have to be!
More? Yeah.
Do you think it's worth it?
Course it is, every penny of it!
Janet's astonishing collection
is a reminder
that the Queen
is also Australia's monarch
and is held in affection
by many people here.
Time to get some Aussie music.
I'm heading deep into
the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
I've arranged to meet with Gurrumul,
an aboriginal musician
who's been blind since birth.
He's a unique performer
with an unusual voice,
and I'm really looking forward
to seeing him play.
'Gurrumul's friend Michael
travels everywhere with him.'
Are you Gurrumul's translator?
Does Gurrumul speak English?
Gunga... which means a little bit.
A little bit, OK. Does he
understand everything I'm saying?
Yeah, most of it.
I need to tell him that experience
was absolutely gorgeous,
listening to him sing, it really
was. I wanted to join in, actually.
I listen to your song
and I obviously couldn't understand
any of the words,
but it just sounds so beautiful.
It's such a flowing, lyrical,
beautiful language, you know? Yep.
Some languages are quite harsh,
I think.
I know that Gurrumul has played
for the Queen before.
Yeah, a couple of times.
A couple of times?!
Yeah, aboriginal people love
the Queen. She's such a constant.
They love structure and hierarchy
and things that don't change
so much.
And for her head
to be on the currency,
you know, that speaks a lot.
I was fascinated to see what
he was going to do with our track.
It was very emotional
when he played.
He made the classic acoustic
guitar feel like...
a really different instrument.
Yeah, I was absolutely drawn in.
But then when he sings,
oh, my goodness.
It's actually not a loud voice
but it's high
and it's, oh, so passionate,
it's gorgeous.
He warmed to me a little bit.
I couldn't get any words
out of him at the start
but he was starting to have a little
laugh and a giggle by the end.
If you just sing those
two lines over and over...
Over and over.
What I can do is
make tracks of them
so it sounds like there's six of you
singing it. It'll sound big. OK.
Really nice for me to sit and record
with him, sat next to each other,
because he's done that classic trick
where he knows more English
than he cracks on to know.
Which is good, it's a good way
of being. The French are like that!
Meeting Gurrumul in the mountains
was one of the most uplifting
experiences I've had on this trip.
But now, I've got
a special appointment
in one of the most iconic
buildings in the world.
When I think of the Commonwealth,
I always think of Australia,
and when I think of Australia,
I think of the Sydney Opera House.
And the fact that we're here today,
recording the Sydney
Symphony Orchestra,
it's just a big milestone
for our record.
Check this out.
It's so important to me that the
record has a rich, orchestral feel,
so I've had a score written
for 50 instruments.
The whole time we've been
planning the track
the one thing we always said was,
"Wouldn't it be a dream
"to go to Sydney and record
in the Opera House?"
And so it's such a pleasure for us
to be here today.
So thank you, everybody, for coming.
The most amazing bit of being here
is if I remind myself
of being stood on the edge of that
slum, recording the Slum Drummers,
this is another world to them.
This place doesn't exist.
I feel lucky every time I record an
orchestra because it's such a treat.
People pay money for tickets
like this, and we're front row.
It's just brilliant, I love it.
If I could do this every day,
I would.
These moments,
these are the golden moments.
The track's building
so you're interested
to then start experimenting
with some of the instruments
we've already got, like Ayub.
How's he going to work?
Sounds great.
You wonder, what's the Slum Drummers
going to sound like in there?
There they are,
on their instruments
made of rubbish.
Here comes Gurrumul.
It's all working.
First and foremost,
I was a musician when I started.
My one passion was playing
the piano. I absolutely loved it.
I used to rush home from school
at lunchtime, play for an hour,
go back to school, get home
from school, play all night.
And when I look back now,
the day I started to sing,
I kind of lost it.
I lost the musician in me somewhere.
Being a part of this has given
what I do a bit more validity
and it makes me feel like we've done
something really good here.
And it's something I'll remember
in my career forever.
My final stop is one of the most
remote places I've even been.
Yet even here, their Head of State
is our Queen.
I'm on one of 1,000 islands
dotted in the Pacific Ocean
that make up the Solomon Islands.
And I'm feeling
a long way from home.
Ah, the rain.
It hasn't stopped raining
since we've arrived.
But not just rain. I'm used to rain.
I come from the north-west, right?
I'm used to lots of rain.
But this is like someone's just
throwing buckets from the sky.
Tourism, it doesn't exist, really.
People don't come here on holiday.
Of course, they only told us that
once we got here.
I can't remember the last time
I slept in a single bed, actually.
I've arranged to meet the Royal
Solomon Islands Police Force Band.
They're the only brass band
in the country
and play at all State events.
Today, they're rehearsing for
a visit by Prince William and Kate
as part of the Diamond Jubilee
celebrations.
One thing's for sure,
they're very serious
about their job.
It's fair to say they've taken
the idea of marching
and made it their own,
adding a few tasty moves.
One of the joys of being
on the other side of the world
is finding the unexpected.
I'll take that little dance routine
home with me.
Lullaby, making small babies
go to bed, sleep.
Now that bit I do like.
I love children
when they go to sleep.
It's the best time of the day!
'There's no doubt about it,
'I live most of my life
not in the real world.'
It's been just nice going and
meeting strangers, talking to them.
Let's go again. So you've got
the baby... You've got the baby.
Dum-dum-dum...
Oh, my wife's gonna love this.
I think that's been the piece
I've enjoyed most of all.
Thank you.
The rain lets up for a bit,
and I'm drawn to an astonishing
sound coming from inside a church.
I haven't heard anything like that,
I haven't heard voices like that,
I haven't heard volume like that.
Ever.
OK, good, I think we're going to try
and do some recording now,
so I would love,
I would love that sort of volume
that you all sang with.
It's such a fantastic,
powerful sound. One, two, three.
We have to celebrate...
I like working with choirs.
I don't really know
what I'm doing, if I'm honest,
but I kind of know what I want.
Smile and loud. Two, three, four.
Ooh-way ooh-way ooh-way...
When they're a good choir,
like these guys,
they really picked up stuff quickly.
And, yeah,
I thought it was enjoyable.
It was really good and we got
all the results we wanted today.
The one thing
I've really loved to see
is how much the people we've met
and recorded,
how much they love music.
I was there when I started.
That's why I played an instrument,
that's why I used to get up
and sing - because I loved it,
absolutely loved it.
I've fallen in and out of love
with music...
because I exist in a business.
I'm signed
to a major record company.
There's money they build
into their profits
because of what I do for them.
And so I remind myself that,
now and again,
I need to just play music
and enjoy it.
I'm determined...
to try and find that spot again.
Oh, my good...
Oh!
Woah, woah!
Well, we've had some welcomes!
Wow.
Now I feel like
we're in the Solomon Islands.
I'm in the rainforest
on the island of Malaita.
The tribe have brought me
to their village, called Oterama.
This is the welcome song for us
into the village.
They seem to think
we're somebody important.
I'm going to play along with it
so they keep playing.
Wooo!
'The journey here was six hours
on a boat, '
places, you know, way, way, way
off the beaten track.
There's no tourists
have been here.
Yeah, I feel lucky to have seen
what we've seen today.
Mm, gorgeous.
I've been round the world and this
is the moment I've been waiting for.
For a feast on the Solomon Islands.
I'll definitely come back.
Even though I have some necklaces,
you seem to have
a better necklace than me.
These are human teeth.
Human teeth?
Whose teeth are they?
Of our ancestors.
Beautiful.
Mine doesn't look so good now.
The music's been exceptional.
Everywhere we've been,
I think we've got...
incredible players
and people on this record.
So many interesting lives we've met
and touched, and they've touched us.
We've got to be taking
all this home.
Great.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you, everyone.
Back in the UK, I'm heading
to the famous Abbey Road Studios
in London, to put the finishing
touches to the record.
And I'm bringing a few friends
with me.
Gareth Malone's Military Wives Choir
is perfect
to take the lead vocals.
Abbey Road is my favourite
recording studio.
I feel the history in the walls
here.
If you were going to finish a record
somewhere, have your last day here.
Gary Barlow's here.
Is it like that everywhere you go?
I feel like we've found the sound
of the Commonwealth
and brought it to this record.
And what better now than to put
something really, truly British
on the top of this record?
- Which is where you guys come in!
- Yeah!
For the Military Wives,
who are absolutely red, white
and blue right the way through,
to sing for the Queen,
for her Jubilee...
I mean, it's a good job
we didn't talk too much about that
because I think they would have
been in tears. Patriotic tears.
Good morning, New York. Hi.
How is everybody this morning?
Three and...
Sing it louder
Sing it clearer
Knowing everyone will hear.
Now we've arrived!
That's national isn't it, yeah?
Good. Right, well, you're in.
You got the job. Well done.
It's a joy for me to work with Gary.
It's interesting for me.
I come from the classical world
and I think that's been
quite a happy marriage, actually.
And what an honour,
Gary Barlow called me up
and said, "Do you want to be
on a single?" Unbelievable.
Just sing
Just sing...
It's gone brilliantly today.
It's very smooth.
Gareth really rehearsed everybody
and...
No, it's good.
Just sing
Just sing...
It sounds really big.
70 voices, this is what we need,
this is what the lyric relates to,
it's about standing shoulder
to shoulder, saying, "Thanks".
Just sing...
I think that sounds great.
Well done, ladies.
Round of applause!
I'm shaking!
It's this simple, really...
we finish the vocals today,
we mix it tonight and the next
person we play it to is the Queen.
No pressure.
I tell you what it is about London...
when I was little and we were
going there on our holiday,
it was because
the Queen lived there.
That's why it was so exciting.
And I remember distinctly
holding those bars
and those railings
and looking through
at the house where the Queen lived.
It just seemed untouchable
when we looked at the Palace.
There was never any point in my life
I'd ever be the other side
of those gates.
How mad is this?
I'm about to meet the Queen.
It's a massive thing for me
just to be able to meet the Queen.
It would be for anyone.
Feels like the journey's
really coming to its end now.
Gareth and Andrew are here
with me today.
They've been a big part of this.
Your Majesty, this is Gary Barlow,
who co-wrote the song.
Good morning. Nice to meet you,
Your Majesty. Andrew Lloyd Webber.
'We're very excited to tell you
about what we've been up to.'
We've actually had tremendous fun.
It seemed like a big mission
to start with, but we've had
a great time, actually.
Now I actually went to Treetops.
Oh, did you?
I thought it would be
a lovely place to start.
We found a girl called Lydia.
Her beautiful voice
opens and closes the record.
They're called the Slum Drummers
and they live in the Kibera slums
and they basically make
all their instruments out of litter.
I was so excited to spend
the day with these guys
and, actually, they've sort of
stayed with me, in a way.
They were really amazing.
I think you've heard
Gurrumul before. He's Aborigine,
he's been blind from birth
Oh, yes, I do remember him, yes.
And we sat on this beautiful
precipice
and he played amazingly.
That's very brave of him.
It is!
So we've had a really
exceptional journey.
On a three-minute piece of music,
we have about 200 people,
so it's getting rather full.
So we thought we should
play it to you. Right.
So, if you don't mind,
we're gonna play you the song.
OK, here we go.
Some words they can't be spoken
Only sung
So hear a thousand voices
Shouting love
There's a place
There's a time
In this life
When you sing
What you are feeling
Find your feet
Stand your ground
Don't you see right now
The world is listening
To what we say
Sing it louder
Sing it clearer
Knowing everyone will hear ya
Make some noise
Find your voice tonight
Sing it stronger
Sing together
Make this moment last forever
Old and young
Shouting love tonight
To sing we've had
A lifetime to wait
Wait, wait, wait
And see a thousand faces
celebrate...
'Today's been amazing.'
It's so much more
than a three-minute song, this,
it's a whole story.
To be able to have the time to tell
her about that's been great.
Well, we hope you've enjoyed it.
Yes, very much so.
There's some beautiful stories
and some gorgeous people we've met,
so it's my job, really, to come here
and tell her about them.
I would like to present,
on behalf of Gary and I,
a copy of the original score.
It's splendid, isn't it?
I hope it's a great success, too.
What a great ending.
Sing it louder
Sing it clearer
Knowing everyone will hear ya
Make some noise
Find your voice tonight
Sing it stronger
Sing together
Make this moment last forever
Old and young
Shouting love tonight
Some words they can't be spoken
Only sung...
I feel a lot of things right now.
I feel very privileged,
very honoured and very lucky
that we've got to do this
and I've got to have seen what I've
seen and heard what I've heard.
Because it'll be a part
of our lives forever.
Just si-i-i-i-ing
Just si-i-i-i-ing
Just si-i-i-i-ing
Just si-i-i-i-ing
Come on and sing it louder
Sing it clearer
Knowing everyone will hear ya
Make some noise
Find your voice tonight
Sing it stronger
Sing together
Make this moment last forever
Old and young
Shouting love tonight
Hear a thousand voices
Shouting love.
Six months ago, Andrew Lloyd Webber
and I were given the honour of
writing a special song for the Queen
to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee.
This is the story
of the making of that song.
It would be really enjoyable
to have something
with these different sounds.
I know.
Our mission was to capture
the sounds
of the Queen's proudest achievement
- the Commonwealth.
I could listen to that for hours.
I set out to find musicians from
different cultures and backgrounds,
record them on their home turf
and blend them into one record.
Wow! This is great fun.
I want to be in your band!
I'd never done
anything like this before
and I wasn't even sure
it could be done.
A day to remember.
One I'll never forget.
'And my last stop would be
the most nerve-wracking...
'playing our record to the Queen.'
No pressure!
This is the Silver Jubilee, 1977,
a garden party for
the whole street in our back garden.
Both Nans are there.
Look, all the kids in the street.
Here we all are, celebrating.
Oh, there's me,
wanting to be noticed.
I mean, a lot of those people,
they're not people
we used to see every day...
everyone just invited everybody.
It brought everybody together.
Do you think? Yeah...
I mean, it's nice.
Is it weird?
Well, I think, I don't know
whether we need... it's very pretty.
Yeah, but we need a key word when
we don't like each other's ideas,
so you should say, "That sounds
great for the Platinum Jubilee,
"you should use
that for the Platinum Jubilee." OK?
Yes, OK.
So do you think I should save
that one for the Platinum Jubilee?
There's a touch
of the Platinum there.
Ah, OK!
So let's slow down a little touch.
Listen to...
OK, let me try this on top of it.
And keep it going.
Yeah, yeah, that's nice.
Ta da da-da...
We're telling everyone today
what we're doing.
We've been hiding it for so long.
..do dee-do.
I quite like that.
Yeah.
'This is letting the country know'
we've been commissioned to do this,
we're taking it seriously,
we're going on a journey,
and see you at the Jubilee.
So the reason you came in,
you're in charge of the official
single for the Diamond Jubilee.
You're going to write it together
and you embark upon Wednesday,
around the Commonwealth, looking for
musical influences and people
to take part in that story
and that journey, is that right?
Exactly. Who else has been involved
in the story so far?
I've heard rumours, whispers,
of Prince Charles being involved.
We're hoping to try
and get some guidance
from the family of the Queen
to try and help us make this thing
something she's going to enjoy.
Are you nervous? Is it
a great weight on the shoulders,
or another fantastic opportunity?
Great opportunity.
You look a bit more worried, Gary!
'This is quite big, so...'
It still puzzles me,
the whole idea of writing
a song for an event like this,
such an important day in the Queen's
life, and I want to get it right.
We're going to meet
the Prince of Wales today,
so I'm slightly nervous
and excited about that.
Young lad from Cheshire!
Your Highness!
Is there a Gary Barlow in here?
How are you?
I think I'm all right,
thank you very much.
Thank you for inviting us
to your house.
There's so much he's experienced
around the world, musically,
that I want to find out about.
Here we are, the Click Song,
let's see.
'Prince Charles was keen to play me
some of the world music
he'd heard on his travels.'
That's right. You see... unng...
you can't!
That's the mouth making that noise?
Yes, yes.
Amazing pictures.
If we can see a fraction of this...
There's a well known musician here.
That's me in disguise.
Much better shaven.
The difficulty sometimes is digging
out where these characters are
because they're not always
in the main street,
but then you find marvellous
things going on in little corners.
Yeah, well,
we need to travel, clearly.
These instruments are fascinating.
Aren't they wonderful?
Do you see, what IS that?
Actually, you must get these.
It would be really enjoyable
to have something with
these different sounds. I know.
For me, it's about picking
elements of this music,
pulling it out and adding it
to our record. Exactly.
Is it just one single?
It's one single.
But you could use all these people!
We could, actually.
We could make an ensemble,
a three-and-a-half minute ensemble.
Absolutely we could. Fantastic.
It's daunting,
but I like a challenge.
I'm going to go off travelling
and find these amazing musicians.
You're really good to do it.
Thank you, sir. The Queen will be
thrilled you've taken such trouble.
The Chris Evans
Breakfast Show - good morning!
'The order from the Palace said
"we want you to include
the Commonwealth".
'And so I'm actually going to go
round the world
'recording unique musicians
and adding them to this record,
and the very last thing...'
The Commonwealth is massive.
All right? Like, massive.
I mean, massive massive.
Antigua, Australia, Bahamas,
Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize.
No way on Earth we can get round
all of these countries.
Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, St Kitts
and Nevis. I got married in Nevis.
Without counting every one,
it looks like there's about 50.
The truth is it comes back
to the record.
We've got to remember
that's why we're going.
We're going to give this record
a feel that
the Commonwealth's on there.
We want it to sound rich
and, you know, full of personality.
There's musicians
all over the world
and we've just got to
dig them out.
We've got to dig them out
and find them.
So with just a simple piano version
of the melody
that Andrew and I have written,
it's time to hit the road.
I've got to write some lyrics
and find musicians
around the Commonwealth who can
put their own stamp on this record.
I'm starting my journey near the
equator in East Africa, in Kenya.
And there's a very special reason
why I've chosen to start here.
I'm at the safari lodge,
Treetops, at the very spot where
a young Princess Elizabeth spent
the night on February 5th, 1952.
Whilst here, she learned her father
had died, and she had become Queen.
I can't imagine being 25
and given this responsibility.
What a task, what a job.
What an undertaking
for such a young person.
I thought today would be
a brilliant time
to really start bashing
the lyric around.
I've taken with me
from my session with Andrew
the lyric Sing.
And I thought I'd soak up
the environment here
and the historic nature of this site
and see if it brought up
any new ideas.
Sing it louder
Sing it louder
Sing it
Sing it
Sing it louder.
'I couldn't think of anything
more perfect, really, '
that we're starting to write
the lyric of the song right here
in this historic place
where the Queen found out
she was going to be the Queen.
With the lyrics in place,
it's time to start recording.
I'm off to see an African
children's choir at a remote school
two hours' drive from Nairobi.
I've spent 20 years recording things
in dark studios with no light.
We're in Africa.
Look where we are,
look at the landscape.
If I was to imagine African music,
I think of those choirs singing
with their hands in the air.
That's it, that's what we want.
This is what we've come for.
Oh, yeah!
Wooo!
Wow. Hi!
Hi.
- How are you?
- We're fine, thank you.
Good. Do you do
everything at the same time?
Yes.
Your singing's amazing!
Thank you.
It really is, it's beautiful.
Do you know about the Queen?
Eunice?
She was born in 1926,
and also she made her first speech
when she was 14 years old.
Eunice, how do you know that?
Where did you learn this?
School. At school?
She likes dogs and horses.
She definitely likes dogs
and horses.
Yes, you? She's a great swimmer.
She's a great swimmer?
Do you know that for sure?
Questions for me? Yes. That's not
the deal, I ask the questions!
Are you in the band and
at the same time you are singing?
Exactly, I'm in a band.
There's four of us, sometimes five.
That could get confusing,
so I won't explain that one!
I'm actually here today
listening out for voices
hopefully to put on my record, so
would you guys be up for trying out
some harmonies and some melodies?
Yes.
'This is why
I wanted to do this trip, '
I wanted to be set up in the middle
of nowhere on a desk,
with all our fantastic technology,
battling against the elements.
Because we've had a horrible,
windy day, there's dust
in all our equipment.
Perfect. That's exactly how
I wanted it to be!
'This is the most glamorous studio
I've ever been to.'
You move in here. OK.
Now you guys at the back,
you come and fill the gaps in
between their shoulders now.
The first line of the song
I want you to sing
is the title of the song - Sing.
That's all you say - Sing.
But there's a melody.
The melody goes like this.
Si-i-i-i-ing.
So the end of the line
each time goes down
and the second time goes up.
With a one, two, three!
Just si-i-i-i-ing
Just si-i-i-i-ing
Just si-i-i-i-ing.
'It's the feeling you get
when you listen to them,
'because music's all about emotion.
'And the emotion that they gave me
today was I just feel great.
'I feel great.'
It's good, sounds beautiful.
All of a sudden, I thought,
wouldn't it be amazing
to get one of these kids
to start the track?
Make sure you stay nice and close
to the mic. That's it, here we go.
Some words...
Some words
they can't be spoken
Only sung
'When Lydia started to sing
I got really excited.
'Beautiful voice,
really innocent, as well.
'And the little bit of pronunciation
that tells you she's not American, '
she's not British,
she's from somewhere else.
'And that's the flavour.
'We know we've got the Commonwealth
now on this track.'
So hear a thousand voices
Shouting love.
Gorgeous, absolutely beautiful.
'Today we've started the record.
That's what's happened.'
All of a sudden, we have symmetry
in our track and the Queen's life.
She started her reign here
and our song's going to start here.
It's beautiful.
We've made a good start
but I've got many challenges ahead
to make a record fit for the Queen.
I'm off now to the Great Rift Valley
to visit a Maasai tribe.
This may sound stupid,
but I'm a little bit nervous.
They're actually quite daunting,
physically and the way they dress.
Wow!
Hello! Nice to meet you.
You're so very welcome.
Daniel, how old are you?
I'm 27 years old.
And do you get married here?
About the marriage, my father
and the father of the girl
will arrange the marriage.
You'll pay 10 cows or 15 cows
for one wife.
And if I want to get a second wife,
the second wife will be
chosen by my first wife.
Hang on, wait one second.
So you've got one wife? Yeah.
Your father chooses you
another wife?
No, my second wife will be chosen
by my first wife.
OK.
Imagine if we could all have
three wives who builds our houses
and milks our goats.
It's job done, innit?
Who's to say right or wrong?
They're all happy.
It's been amazing
to tiptoe into this.
The tribe were keen
to be on the record,
so now it was time for them
to show me what they could do.
I felt slightly intimidated, just
because I didn't know what to do.
To try and describe the sound...
It was like a battle
between the men and the women.
This was not going to be
straightforward.
I want to record
just a few different things. Yeah.
Hopefully we can try and play it
into the song somewhere.
It's very difficult to hear, though,
because everybody sings at one time.
One, two.
He-ey-ya.
You sing.
He-ey-ya.
Yeah, so here we go.
One, two...
He-ey-ya.
He-ey-ya.
Ready? Wait. One, two...
I've no idea at all how
I can use any of that in the record.
'It was just all too much for me
to take in.'
It's been lovely,
been great seeing this lifestyle
but I'm not on holiday here,
I'm trying to make record.
So these next few days are critical
for the record itself.
The Maasai have made me realise
just how much of a challenge
I've taken on.
There's music everywhere in Africa,
and I'm determined to find a way
to make it work on our record.
I want there to be people who've
never played on a record on here
but I also want
some professionals.
I want people who are well known,
and when I researched Kenyan music
Ayub was one of the most successful
musicians in this country.
So I'm looking forward to seeing
what comes of this session today.
Oh, I loved his track. I loved it.
I could have listened to that
for hours.
The only thing missing was
I could have got a nice massage
as he was playing it.
That would've been spot on, then.
Hi.
I really hate interrupting you
making music.
I'm so intrigued
about your instrument.
The good old nyatiti. It's, er...
What's it called again? Nyatiti.
Nyatiti?
Nyatiti, which translates
into "daughter of the clan". OK.
Have you spent some time in the UK?
I busked for about four years
in London. Did you really?
It was great for me
because it gave me
four years to work through
my instrument and perfect myself.
'It's a wacky old instrument'
but we've got to get it
on this track.
'I play Ayub the piano melody,
'hoping he can add
something special.'
Working with Gary
was actually surprisingly easy.
He's very easy going, he's precise
and he knows what he wants.
It flowed smoothly.
I think the word is "save"
at this point.
'Back in my hotel, and a chance
to listen to what I've recorded.'
How great was Ayub?
Who'd had ever thought we'd have got
that instrument on this record?
And Lydia. I mean,
what a star she was.
Some words they can't be spoken
Only sung.
It's sweet, really nice.
Now I need to find some percussion
to give the track its backbone.
My search brings me to Kibera.
Just three miles outside Nairobi,
it's one of the biggest slums
in Africa.
Nobody knows how many
hundreds of thousands of people
are crammed in here.
This is hard to describe. Real
poverty at its lowest, lowest level.
It's pretty hard to take it in,
I've got to be honest.
It's pretty hard to take it in.
And yet, from this poverty
springs a remarkable group
of percussionists
who call themselves
the Slum Drummers.
Where did these instruments come
from? Have you made them yourselves?
These are scrap metals. I see.
These are plastics that
street children collect and sell.
So all of these instruments,
it was just rubbish,
it was about to be thrown away?
Everything you have around you,
it has music in it.
It has the potential
to be an instrument.
It has the potential of music in it.
Whose invention was this?
Who knew this could make this noise?
We ourselves, we invented it,
because we just took a big, big pipe,
a very long pipe - we just hit.
You hit the end?
Yes, we hit at the end, and we heard
that that can produce sound.
Goosebumps have happened
for the first time
when they started to play.
Music is their lives.
This is their escape from where they
live, how they've been brought up.
Yeah, I love music.
Music is in me.
Though everyone here loves music.
It's like a passion we have.
Michael's a sad story.
I didn't actually realise
when I first went to meet them all
he was blind.
I guess he's needed music,
more so now than ever before.
I was looking round as they were
playing and he was lost.
He'd escaped somewhere
for those few minutes.
And, yeah, good on him.
No matter what you go through,
no matter what difficulties
you have,
you still have to stay strong.
You don't have to break down
and give up on everything.
You need to keep your head up
and keep focusing
on what you want to do.
You're reminded, wow, this is
a language we all speak, this is.
How much fun did I have?!
You know, a drum-off! It was great.
Really, I loved it. Loved it.
I think I'll remember that,
actually, for the rest of my life.
It was a beautiful moment,
to be somewhere like this
which is so far removed
from how and where I live.
That connection of music.
I'm taking it home with me.
Woooo!
Oh, yeah! Well done! Well done!
I think the problem is this.
That's the problem!
Well done. Amazing. Amazing.
Wow, this is great fun!
I want to be in your band!
Yeah, that's why I was asking you
if you'd been in a band.
You need to give...
I'm leaving that band!
Forget that band!
I'm coming in this band.
Time to record the guys
for the Queen.
I record their instruments
one by one.
I add them into the music
on my computer,
working out where they'll fit in.
OK, I think I'm there.
So... I've put you in there.
Like it?
Yeah, very much!
Music doesn't really need words
for you to understand it.
Just si-i-i-i-ing...
It's like a legacy.
Even after we've gone,
it will be a record
that will never be forgotten.
Genuinely, I've met
some special people today
and they've really touched me.
And I feel great.
I feel motivated now
to get on a plane
and finish this record.
Next stop, I'm off to the Caribbean
and to the realm Jamaica,
one of the 16 Commonwealth countries
where the Queen is Head of State.
I've been really looking
forward to coming here
and visiting the birthplace
of so much music.
First time ever in Jamaica.
Never been here before.
It's pretty off the scale,
this place, I've got to be honest.
We've just arrived here
in this market
and already, you know,
the people working in the stalls,
they're dancing.
There's music everywhere.
'Remembering what Prince Charles
told me
'about digging out characters
off the beaten track,
'I'm really keen to explore.
'I'm being led up
to a Rastafarian village
'to meet some drummers in
the Blue Mountains above Kingston.'
Every time I look up
it's getting higher!
Higher and higher!
'I feel like
I'm in the middle of nowhere.
'After a two-hour drive from town,
'and now a 45-minute hike
up this mountain,
'I'm not sure what to expect.'
Is this the start of the village?
Yeah.
Hello, nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.
He's also a singer.
He sings as well?
A chanter, and play the drums.
But I'm the singer here.
You're going to be!
You're going to be!
Is it finished? Am I finished?
We're going back down!
No, no,
you don't meet the priest yet!
He's the priest of the school now.
Oh, he's the priest?
Nice to meet you.
There's a very nice smell
in the air here.
Everything smells fresh and nice.
I think it has to do with
the altitude. Maybe.
I think we are more than
5,000 feet above sea level here. OK.
How do I make one of these?
I want one.
I am impressed
by his personality, yes.
I see congeniality there
in that person.
I need to try a bit harder.
When I leave today,
I'm going to start.
Oh, it is a pleasure, sir.
Brilliant.
The drumming starts
and it's like nothing
I've ever seen.
Raise the voice.
By special privilege
and for royal purpose,
we want to send out
a special blessing at this time
for the Kingdom of England.
'The drums are a key
part of the Rastafarian religion,
'and I'd love to get
a flavour of them on this record.'
It was incredible.
You know, small kids
really hitting these instruments
like their hands
must be made of steel.
I mean, it was passionate,
it was from the heart.
It was brilliant.
One kid who does catch my eye
is the priest's son,
12-year-old Selassie.
Priest? Yes, sir?
Can I see his hands? Selassie.
Wow. They play loud, very loud.
I would love to try
and get him on the record.
Selassie was great.
His timing was amazing.
You watch the way his hands move
and touch the different
parts of that drum.
He really owned that instrument.
Mm, rise up, rise up!
OK. OK.
He's commissioned by the Queen.
I don't think she could have found
anyone more equipped
to deal with this work
that he is doing.
That's my personal opinion
of the brethren.
I'm off on my travels now.
OK, sir. Guidance, protection
and blessings. Thank you.
A day to remember.
One I'll never forget.
Bye, everyone!
Now I've got to work out how I use
the drums on the record.
The little boy.
Sounds great.
If I just sneak the verse in...
It's good. It's going to work well.
Uhh! Say wha'?
Listen, market! Wow!
I drink up me rum
And me tongue be dumb
Me no wan' no girl
Complain at me.
Jamaica's music is every bit as rich
and authentic
as I hoped it would be.
Iron ball
An iron ball
Iron ball
An iron ball
Iron ball
An iron ball
Me no wan' no girl
Complain at me
I went upstairs
But the door was locked...
I'm not the only Brit to be enjoying
the culture of Jamaica.
Prince Harry is also here
on his Diamond Jubilee tour
of the Caribbean.
I join him at a community project
in downtown Kingston
and I'm intrigued to see
how Jamaican people respond
when royalty's in town.
The whole street outside,
everyone's going crazy.
Reminds me of my old days
in a boy band.
We're starting our recording.
We've done some already this morning
for the Diamond Jubilee song.
Yeah? Yeah.
We're here all week
and we're hoping to get you
on the track tomorrow.
Erm, last time I checked,
I can't sing!
Tambourine?
Oh, you want me to do a tune?
There's got to be some tambourine.
OK, well...
Just one hit?
One hit, I don't know.
It's going to cost you!
Bob Marley's One Love.
I think it must be lovely for him
to come out here
and see this reaction.
People love the Royal Family here.
There's no question about it.
They've turned out in their droves.
After all the excitement, I catch up
for a quiet chat with the prince.
How are you? You all right?
Yeah, not too bad. Good.
It's a pretty big year
for your family, isn't it?
It's a massive year, yes.
I can't speak for the rest
of my family,
but I've slightly taken
my grandmother for granted
over the years and this tour
has really opened my eyes
to the achievements that she's done.
The response to people celebrating
the Queen's Diamond Jubilee
has been absolutely amazing,
it really has.
I have to ask,
just because I've got you here,
but we are in charge of doing
this song for the Diamond Jubilee.
Any tips from you, as to what your
grandmother likes musically, or...?
It's been a very difficult
challenge, this has, for us.
I don't know whether to say
that honestly or not!
Other than drum and bass,
is there anything else she...?
If it spans across cultures,
she's going to love it. Yes.
If it's really, really loud
and modern music,
then she's probably not. OK.
She's an amazing woman
and she'll love anything.
She's seen it all. Of course.
And so you couldn't surprise her.
Or maybe you could, I don't know.
Try!
I'm desperate to get you
on this record.
I want you to play on it.
I've got a tambourine here.
It's going to be painless,
believe me!
All I want is two tambourine hits.
One like this.
Like what? Like...
Literally that.
Just that. Literally one tap.
And one more like this.
Nice! That was the ring.
I've loved this week.
I've loved getting out there
and going to places
I know, as a tourist,
I'd never have been to or seen.
There's music definitely
I've found here
I'd have never heard before.
I've opened my ears to Jamaica
and what they've got to offer.
Music superstar Gary Barlow
has arrived back in Australia.
First stop in here at Sunrise.
Tell us about the trips.
You've been to Jamaica, to Kenya,
you're now here in Australia.
Yes, we're on a mission
at the moment
because we're doing a one-off,
unique song for the Diamond Jubilee.
It's going to be a lot of influences
from all over the world,
and it's going to have
this worldly sound to it.
Good to see you, Gary.
Nice to see you. Safe travel!
Still ahead, when she was a he...
'Driving through
the outskirts of Sydney,
'there was one house
I couldn't miss.'
Look at this!
Oh, my goodness!
Wow!
Prince Charles sat in his seat.
Oh, this is class.
Shall we knock on? This way.
Between the Beefeaters.
I think I'm looking for Janet.
Hello!
Hello, I'm Gary. Nice to meet you.
Pleased to meet you. Welcome here.
Thank you, thank you.
And I'm Philip. Philip?
Yes. That's a royal name.
It certainly is!
Oh, my goodness!
You are officially royal mad.
I'm a nutter.
Wow.
Yeah.
Every cupboard in this house,
if I open, has royalty in it.
Here.
Every time you eat,
they're sat with you.
They're not much company,
I can tell you.
Just in case. Just in case.
Oh, here we go.
That is wonderful.
All just for a laugh.
And you use this for real?
Of course you do!
Of course you do, it's a throne!
It's got a royal flush!
I get this... real feel
about when I see the Queen.
I can be anywhere in the house
and the television will be on
and anything to do with Harry
or anything, I'm down here.
Just give us an idea
of this whole collection, what...?
The cost of it?
Oh, Philip, I think you're needed.
Philip, you're needed over there.
You go over there.
It has to be hundreds of thousands.
Don't tell him, for God's sake!
400,000 or 500,000?
Oh, it would have to be!
More? Yeah.
Do you think it's worth it?
Course it is, every penny of it!
Janet's astonishing collection
is a reminder
that the Queen
is also Australia's monarch
and is held in affection
by many people here.
Time to get some Aussie music.
I'm heading deep into
the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
I've arranged to meet with Gurrumul,
an aboriginal musician
who's been blind since birth.
He's a unique performer
with an unusual voice,
and I'm really looking forward
to seeing him play.
'Gurrumul's friend Michael
travels everywhere with him.'
Are you Gurrumul's translator?
Does Gurrumul speak English?
Gunga... which means a little bit.
A little bit, OK. Does he
understand everything I'm saying?
Yeah, most of it.
I need to tell him that experience
was absolutely gorgeous,
listening to him sing, it really
was. I wanted to join in, actually.
I listen to your song
and I obviously couldn't understand
any of the words,
but it just sounds so beautiful.
It's such a flowing, lyrical,
beautiful language, you know? Yep.
Some languages are quite harsh,
I think.
I know that Gurrumul has played
for the Queen before.
Yeah, a couple of times.
A couple of times?!
Yeah, aboriginal people love
the Queen. She's such a constant.
They love structure and hierarchy
and things that don't change
so much.
And for her head
to be on the currency,
you know, that speaks a lot.
I was fascinated to see what
he was going to do with our track.
It was very emotional
when he played.
He made the classic acoustic
guitar feel like...
a really different instrument.
Yeah, I was absolutely drawn in.
But then when he sings,
oh, my goodness.
It's actually not a loud voice
but it's high
and it's, oh, so passionate,
it's gorgeous.
He warmed to me a little bit.
I couldn't get any words
out of him at the start
but he was starting to have a little
laugh and a giggle by the end.
If you just sing those
two lines over and over...
Over and over.
What I can do is
make tracks of them
so it sounds like there's six of you
singing it. It'll sound big. OK.
Really nice for me to sit and record
with him, sat next to each other,
because he's done that classic trick
where he knows more English
than he cracks on to know.
Which is good, it's a good way
of being. The French are like that!
Meeting Gurrumul in the mountains
was one of the most uplifting
experiences I've had on this trip.
But now, I've got
a special appointment
in one of the most iconic
buildings in the world.
When I think of the Commonwealth,
I always think of Australia,
and when I think of Australia,
I think of the Sydney Opera House.
And the fact that we're here today,
recording the Sydney
Symphony Orchestra,
it's just a big milestone
for our record.
Check this out.
It's so important to me that the
record has a rich, orchestral feel,
so I've had a score written
for 50 instruments.
The whole time we've been
planning the track
the one thing we always said was,
"Wouldn't it be a dream
"to go to Sydney and record
in the Opera House?"
And so it's such a pleasure for us
to be here today.
So thank you, everybody, for coming.
The most amazing bit of being here
is if I remind myself
of being stood on the edge of that
slum, recording the Slum Drummers,
this is another world to them.
This place doesn't exist.
I feel lucky every time I record an
orchestra because it's such a treat.
People pay money for tickets
like this, and we're front row.
It's just brilliant, I love it.
If I could do this every day,
I would.
These moments,
these are the golden moments.
The track's building
so you're interested
to then start experimenting
with some of the instruments
we've already got, like Ayub.
How's he going to work?
Sounds great.
You wonder, what's the Slum Drummers
going to sound like in there?
There they are,
on their instruments
made of rubbish.
Here comes Gurrumul.
It's all working.
First and foremost,
I was a musician when I started.
My one passion was playing
the piano. I absolutely loved it.
I used to rush home from school
at lunchtime, play for an hour,
go back to school, get home
from school, play all night.
And when I look back now,
the day I started to sing,
I kind of lost it.
I lost the musician in me somewhere.
Being a part of this has given
what I do a bit more validity
and it makes me feel like we've done
something really good here.
And it's something I'll remember
in my career forever.
My final stop is one of the most
remote places I've even been.
Yet even here, their Head of State
is our Queen.
I'm on one of 1,000 islands
dotted in the Pacific Ocean
that make up the Solomon Islands.
And I'm feeling
a long way from home.
Ah, the rain.
It hasn't stopped raining
since we've arrived.
But not just rain. I'm used to rain.
I come from the north-west, right?
I'm used to lots of rain.
But this is like someone's just
throwing buckets from the sky.
Tourism, it doesn't exist, really.
People don't come here on holiday.
Of course, they only told us that
once we got here.
I can't remember the last time
I slept in a single bed, actually.
I've arranged to meet the Royal
Solomon Islands Police Force Band.
They're the only brass band
in the country
and play at all State events.
Today, they're rehearsing for
a visit by Prince William and Kate
as part of the Diamond Jubilee
celebrations.
One thing's for sure,
they're very serious
about their job.
It's fair to say they've taken
the idea of marching
and made it their own,
adding a few tasty moves.
One of the joys of being
on the other side of the world
is finding the unexpected.
I'll take that little dance routine
home with me.
Lullaby, making small babies
go to bed, sleep.
Now that bit I do like.
I love children
when they go to sleep.
It's the best time of the day!
'There's no doubt about it,
'I live most of my life
not in the real world.'
It's been just nice going and
meeting strangers, talking to them.
Let's go again. So you've got
the baby... You've got the baby.
Dum-dum-dum...
Oh, my wife's gonna love this.
I think that's been the piece
I've enjoyed most of all.
Thank you.
The rain lets up for a bit,
and I'm drawn to an astonishing
sound coming from inside a church.
I haven't heard anything like that,
I haven't heard voices like that,
I haven't heard volume like that.
Ever.
OK, good, I think we're going to try
and do some recording now,
so I would love,
I would love that sort of volume
that you all sang with.
It's such a fantastic,
powerful sound. One, two, three.
We have to celebrate...
I like working with choirs.
I don't really know
what I'm doing, if I'm honest,
but I kind of know what I want.
Smile and loud. Two, three, four.
Ooh-way ooh-way ooh-way...
When they're a good choir,
like these guys,
they really picked up stuff quickly.
And, yeah,
I thought it was enjoyable.
It was really good and we got
all the results we wanted today.
The one thing
I've really loved to see
is how much the people we've met
and recorded,
how much they love music.
I was there when I started.
That's why I played an instrument,
that's why I used to get up
and sing - because I loved it,
absolutely loved it.
I've fallen in and out of love
with music...
because I exist in a business.
I'm signed
to a major record company.
There's money they build
into their profits
because of what I do for them.
And so I remind myself that,
now and again,
I need to just play music
and enjoy it.
I'm determined...
to try and find that spot again.
Oh, my good...
Oh!
Woah, woah!
Well, we've had some welcomes!
Wow.
Now I feel like
we're in the Solomon Islands.
I'm in the rainforest
on the island of Malaita.
The tribe have brought me
to their village, called Oterama.
This is the welcome song for us
into the village.
They seem to think
we're somebody important.
I'm going to play along with it
so they keep playing.
Wooo!
'The journey here was six hours
on a boat, '
places, you know, way, way, way
off the beaten track.
There's no tourists
have been here.
Yeah, I feel lucky to have seen
what we've seen today.
Mm, gorgeous.
I've been round the world and this
is the moment I've been waiting for.
For a feast on the Solomon Islands.
I'll definitely come back.
Even though I have some necklaces,
you seem to have
a better necklace than me.
These are human teeth.
Human teeth?
Whose teeth are they?
Of our ancestors.
Beautiful.
Mine doesn't look so good now.
The music's been exceptional.
Everywhere we've been,
I think we've got...
incredible players
and people on this record.
So many interesting lives we've met
and touched, and they've touched us.
We've got to be taking
all this home.
Great.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you, everyone.
Back in the UK, I'm heading
to the famous Abbey Road Studios
in London, to put the finishing
touches to the record.
And I'm bringing a few friends
with me.
Gareth Malone's Military Wives Choir
is perfect
to take the lead vocals.
Abbey Road is my favourite
recording studio.
I feel the history in the walls
here.
If you were going to finish a record
somewhere, have your last day here.
Gary Barlow's here.
Is it like that everywhere you go?
I feel like we've found the sound
of the Commonwealth
and brought it to this record.
And what better now than to put
something really, truly British
on the top of this record?
- Which is where you guys come in!
- Yeah!
For the Military Wives,
who are absolutely red, white
and blue right the way through,
to sing for the Queen,
for her Jubilee...
I mean, it's a good job
we didn't talk too much about that
because I think they would have
been in tears. Patriotic tears.
Good morning, New York. Hi.
How is everybody this morning?
Three and...
Sing it louder
Sing it clearer
Knowing everyone will hear.
Now we've arrived!
That's national isn't it, yeah?
Good. Right, well, you're in.
You got the job. Well done.
It's a joy for me to work with Gary.
It's interesting for me.
I come from the classical world
and I think that's been
quite a happy marriage, actually.
And what an honour,
Gary Barlow called me up
and said, "Do you want to be
on a single?" Unbelievable.
Just sing
Just sing...
It's gone brilliantly today.
It's very smooth.
Gareth really rehearsed everybody
and...
No, it's good.
Just sing
Just sing...
It sounds really big.
70 voices, this is what we need,
this is what the lyric relates to,
it's about standing shoulder
to shoulder, saying, "Thanks".
Just sing...
I think that sounds great.
Well done, ladies.
Round of applause!
I'm shaking!
It's this simple, really...
we finish the vocals today,
we mix it tonight and the next
person we play it to is the Queen.
No pressure.
I tell you what it is about London...
when I was little and we were
going there on our holiday,
it was because
the Queen lived there.
That's why it was so exciting.
And I remember distinctly
holding those bars
and those railings
and looking through
at the house where the Queen lived.
It just seemed untouchable
when we looked at the Palace.
There was never any point in my life
I'd ever be the other side
of those gates.
How mad is this?
I'm about to meet the Queen.
It's a massive thing for me
just to be able to meet the Queen.
It would be for anyone.
Feels like the journey's
really coming to its end now.
Gareth and Andrew are here
with me today.
They've been a big part of this.
Your Majesty, this is Gary Barlow,
who co-wrote the song.
Good morning. Nice to meet you,
Your Majesty. Andrew Lloyd Webber.
'We're very excited to tell you
about what we've been up to.'
We've actually had tremendous fun.
It seemed like a big mission
to start with, but we've had
a great time, actually.
Now I actually went to Treetops.
Oh, did you?
I thought it would be
a lovely place to start.
We found a girl called Lydia.
Her beautiful voice
opens and closes the record.
They're called the Slum Drummers
and they live in the Kibera slums
and they basically make
all their instruments out of litter.
I was so excited to spend
the day with these guys
and, actually, they've sort of
stayed with me, in a way.
They were really amazing.
I think you've heard
Gurrumul before. He's Aborigine,
he's been blind from birth
Oh, yes, I do remember him, yes.
And we sat on this beautiful
precipice
and he played amazingly.
That's very brave of him.
It is!
So we've had a really
exceptional journey.
On a three-minute piece of music,
we have about 200 people,
so it's getting rather full.
So we thought we should
play it to you. Right.
So, if you don't mind,
we're gonna play you the song.
OK, here we go.
Some words they can't be spoken
Only sung
So hear a thousand voices
Shouting love
There's a place
There's a time
In this life
When you sing
What you are feeling
Find your feet
Stand your ground
Don't you see right now
The world is listening
To what we say
Sing it louder
Sing it clearer
Knowing everyone will hear ya
Make some noise
Find your voice tonight
Sing it stronger
Sing together
Make this moment last forever
Old and young
Shouting love tonight
To sing we've had
A lifetime to wait
Wait, wait, wait
And see a thousand faces
celebrate...
'Today's been amazing.'
It's so much more
than a three-minute song, this,
it's a whole story.
To be able to have the time to tell
her about that's been great.
Well, we hope you've enjoyed it.
Yes, very much so.
There's some beautiful stories
and some gorgeous people we've met,
so it's my job, really, to come here
and tell her about them.
I would like to present,
on behalf of Gary and I,
a copy of the original score.
It's splendid, isn't it?
I hope it's a great success, too.
What a great ending.
Sing it louder
Sing it clearer
Knowing everyone will hear ya
Make some noise
Find your voice tonight
Sing it stronger
Sing together
Make this moment last forever
Old and young
Shouting love tonight
Some words they can't be spoken
Only sung...
I feel a lot of things right now.
I feel very privileged,
very honoured and very lucky
that we've got to do this
and I've got to have seen what I've
seen and heard what I've heard.
Because it'll be a part
of our lives forever.
Just si-i-i-i-ing
Just si-i-i-i-ing
Just si-i-i-i-ing
Just si-i-i-i-ing
Come on and sing it louder
Sing it clearer
Knowing everyone will hear ya
Make some noise
Find your voice tonight
Sing it stronger
Sing together
Make this moment last forever
Old and young
Shouting love tonight
Hear a thousand voices
Shouting love.