“Wake Up Everybody” Music Video

Note from Cynthia: The IBM senior vice president for IBM’s education and multimedia group was scheduled to appear before a group of leading education officials. She needed a motivating and influential speech about the creative use of computers in the classroom and the ways in which they would change the educational experience. After writing her speech, I thought we still needed a fun and compelling opener. That was on my mind when I happened to hear on my car radio the old Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes’ tune, “Wake Up Everybody.”

The lyrics began: “Wake up, everybody, no more sleepin’ in bed/no more backward thinkin’/time for thinkin’ ahead…” And then, “Wake up all you teachers/time to teach a new way….” I knew it was the perfect song to support a speech. Then the images started coming, beginning with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall…

Take a look and listen; it’s only two and a half minutes.