- On the device, okay.
- [John] That's Sharon Van Etten, she's in the States,
I'm in the studio in Auckland.
Come back, come back. - Okay.
- And I'm stupidly excited
because we all have musicians
who make our hearts bigger, don't we?
Who make us feel less alone, who understand.
Can you hear me? - I can, can you hear me?
- Hell, yeah, loud and clear, you look great.
How are you, how are you?
- Oh my gosh, I'm hanging in (laughs), how are you?
- Good, I'm really good.
I've so been looking forward to this
and I've so been looking forward to it, thank you.
- Oh, no, thank you, seriously.
- [John] Seven years ago,
Sharon Van Etten came to New Zealand.
I love her music, just love it.
So she played for RNZ in this really lovely session.
And then she and Heather played a concert I'd
been looking forward to for months.
But then I couldn't go
because I had to do something for work.
And we'd been having a difficult time on Campbell Live,
and that team was so kind.
And so when I couldn't get to Sharon,
Ali Ikram and a camera went out to get Sharon to me,
only they didn't tell me until we were on air.
- So I was live from the King's Arms,
there with Sharon Van Etten.
Pip, the executive producer, had heard a lot
of her music while sharing an office with John.
It's safe to say that she wasn't a fan,
but we all wanted to see what would happen
when we surprised him with Sharon.
So she played him a song.
- We're gonna play "Tarifa" for you.
Sorry I don't get to meet you in person, John,
but thank you for caring.
- I'm so stoked, thank you, this is so lovely, thank you.
Seven years on, hardly any of the footage survives now,
but Sharon Van Etten sung me "Tarifa".
I love Sharon's music a stupidly large amount
and I'm a bit overwhelmed by this.
And I cried.
It had been a really tough time at work,
and I can deal with toughness,
but the surprise of such kindness kind of derail me.
- I remember singing to you, I remember saying hello,
and I remember this,
and I will never forget how we connected in that way
'cause I knew that you were someone that felt deeply
and that means so much to so many people (laughs).
♪ When I'm stupid ♪
- [John] And then it got reported,
Pitchfork, NME, Spin, all over the place.
"Sharon Van Etten reduces New Zealand anchorman to tears,"
that kind of thing.
And that's the power of the best music, right?
For me, it's Sharon Van Etten,
for you, it might be someone else, how they sing us
into the reassurance of what we share.
- I try to write in a very general stream of conscious way
that people can connect to a feeling
that even maybe I'm still learning how to describe (laughs).
And hopefully that offers people comfort,
knowing that they're not alone
in trying to find the words themselves.
- [John] I think the first time I
ever really understood music could make you feel something
was when I heard Joan Armatrading sing
those first two perfect lines.
My mum was working with other women at a restaurant
and they listened to this and Phoebe Snow
and to Joni Mitchell.
And I realised this was their music,
that it spoke to them in ways the stupid man music
on the radio wasn't getting close to,
that these were their dreams
and the lives they were living, or maybe not.
This is my beautiful friend, Te Rauhiringa,
who brings so much to TVNZ,
she brings so much to this funny place.
Tena koe
- [John] What's your song,
what's your song that makes you cry?
- Oh, I have a few songs that make me cry,
but one that really sticks out to me,
and I believe the song makes a lot of people cry,
is "We Are Human" by super group MAIMOA.
- [John] Te Rauhiringa loves this song so much,
she even appeared in the video for it.
- Even just the thought of it makes me cry.
I think of the state of māoridom at the moment,
I think of the current mental health pandemic
that we're dealing with.
And when you work in news,
it's hard to ignore the statistics,
and kei raro mātau e putu ana,
we are taking our lives more than anybody else,
our mums, our children and our babies.
And in this song, it speaks to that.
I'll empathise, I'll take your hand, I understand.
And so when I hear this song, it's as if it's me singing
to this generation of lost, hopeless souls
that respectfully come from the same people
that I come from.
And it just, it breaks my heart
'cause I wanna do my best to help these people.
And this is a song that can put
into words all those feelings that I have
and that immense desire to wanna make change for the better.
- [John] This is my friend, Richard Martin.
He is a camera journalist slash excellent film reviewer.
And I was telling him about the story.
And I said, "Do you have a song that makes you cry?"
And he replied.
- Yes, I do, "The Rainbow Connection"
from "The Muppets" (laughs).
Well, I should be clear.
It's specifically the version
from the 2011 film "The Muppets",
directed by Nicholas Stoller.
And there's a moment at the end of the film
that what's happened is the Muppets
have lost the Muppet Theatre,
they're doing a telethon to raise it back
and it looks like it's not gonna happen.
And so, Kermit comes out and sings his signature song,
"The Rainbow Connection", and then midway through the song,
all of the Muppets join in
and it becomes this this big moment.
♪ We know that it's probably magic ♪
It's the song about finding your place and out there
and wondering if there's something else,
and then it's all these wacky Muppets
that have found this sense of togetherness.
♪ Ah, someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection ♪
There's something about specifically that arrangement
and when they all join in
that just makes me tear up like nothing else.
- You'll note that beautiful Richard talked
about finding your place and a sense of togetherness.
And I think that's what the best music does for us, right?
It reminds us of what we have in common.
Let's go back to Sharon Van Etten because I always do.
Her new album, which is superb,
has one of her greatest ever tracks on it, I think,
which is a high bar for me because I love her music so much.
It's called "Darkness Fades".
It's track number one, it's playing underneath us now,
thanks to our wonderful editor, Daniel, listen.
It's just a stunning, stunning song.
And what it does is it takes the darkness
in the world at the moment,
'cause I think we're having a bit of a tough old time
on this planet, and it kinda piles it up,
and the song gets kinda deeper and darker.
It's just so good.
And then she does an incredible thing.
She tells us we can get through it,
which is just a beautiful message.
And I think that's what the best music does for us, right?
It shows us light in the darkness, listen.
♪ Stars fall ♪
♪ Keeping what at bay ♪
- Well, I think there's a narrative.
There's the simple feeling of me playing in my bedroom,
and there's the lyric that says "All the doors closed,"
and it's that feeling
of massive closure and massive shutdown,
whether that be emotionally or with the state of the world,
but as it builds, I try to build it
on lines that I think are really important.
Darkness fades, I feel like every time I say it,
I wanna say it more and more,
'cause it's anyone that's experienced anxiety or depression,
that the most important thing
is being able to get through that part.
'Cause you know that it's hard right now,
you know that it's hard right now,
but what helped you get past it
is the acknowledgement that it's a momentary feeling
and that it will go away or it will go to something else,
and you just have to rise this moment out
because it won't last, moments don't last, they will fade.
Every time I say it,
I just want there to be a bigger catharsis in the music.
♪ The nights are now ♪
♪ Better stay, light ♪
♪ I'm looking for a way ♪