“Sing” features the mournful, acoustic-driven Fimm song intercut with interviews taken during recovery efforts in towns like Margaretville. Brief conversations with local volunteers and still-stunning footage of water sweeping through the streets of small towns, leveling much in its wake, provides a visual component unlikely to be forgotten by anyone who has lived through it.
According to the diary on her official website, Fimm has found much inspiration and perspective in the wake of the devastation. “There is this smell of rancid food, turbid water everywhere and people on their knees crying,” Fimm wrote on September 12. “While there was that, I was also reminded of how old these mountains are, and that we are what is young about them. The only people helping are the local residents, friends and family. I could not be more amazed at their determination and character. One girl, not more than 21 years old, came up to me covered in chemical waste (that she did not realize she was digging in) and said, ‘Oh well, someone has to do it,’ with a deep grin on her face. I sort of looked at her, as if to say, ‘Well yes, but people just don’t,’ but I held my tongue and admired her. Her braids were narrow and long with splotches of mud here and there. I thought, ‘Could a person be more beautiful than that?’ Is it possible that the entire fate of the human race could be altered if we could embody the perspective of this one young woman?”
“Sing,” along with the rest of Near Infinite Possibility, was released in May, months before Irene washed over the Hudson Valley. But there’s something connecting the music and the message – one that might not have been fully realized until the video was released two weeks ago. For more information, visit www.sarahfimm.com, http://vimeo.com/29682658 and markproject.org.