Last week, actor and songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda collaborated with artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, and Gloria Estefan to create a song that would raise money for the 3.4 million people that have been affected by Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm that has caused heavy flash flooding and a crippling island-wide power outage.
The audio of the new single, “Almost Like Praying”, was released on October 5th, 2017, soon followed by a music video. Ironically, it gets its name from a line in the song “Maria” from the 80s musical, “West Side Story”.
“I knew that name would forever have a destructive connotation on the island,” said Lin-Manuel during an interview on the Today Show. “And yet, I have a musical theater brain, so that’s where I went in my head first. And I thought if I could flip the sample and the hook of ‘almost like praying’…thoughts and prayers are great. Thoughts and prayers are not enough. We need supplies we need aid we need a government response that matches the response of our people, and that’s what the song’s about.”
In order to honor the residents of the island, Lin-Manuel made sure to include the names of all of its 78 towns in the lyrics.
“Almost Like Praying” is available for the low price of $1.29 on Google Play, iTunes, Amazon Music, and many others. All proceeds go towards the Hispanic Federation UNIDOS Disaster Relief Fund for Puerto Rico.
Here is a link to the music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1IBXE2G6zw