SAVE THE CHILDREN is an “in-your-face,” straightforward condemnation of the indiscriminate violence of war and the horror visited upon war’s primary victims — children. It is the seventh single released from Chris Oledude’s album, PREACHER MAN – VOL. 1.
For those hearing this in 2026 and applying it to the Israel-Hamas battles, for example, know that this song does indeed apply to that reality (as well as many others). It applies as much to those who fire terrorist rockets into Israel as it does to the catastrophic bombardments of Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and now Tehran. It applies as much to those who rip apart families by taking and abusing hostages as it does to those who rip apart families by taking and abusing political prisoners. Yes, a plague on all the houses who either don’t care about “collateral damage” or who choose to embrace that concept.
The original version of SAVE THE CHILDREN, written in 1983, was a galloping 6/8 rocker that hit the listener like a missile. Chris Oledude decided, however, that the gravitas inherent to the message dictated some musical modifications. The result is a blend of reggae, rock, jazz and folk. It should be noted that the album version of the song has a longer introduction and ending.
Chris Owens is a Puerto Rican-born, African American, white-Jewish artist with a songwriter’s lifelong dedication to truth-telling. Part of a creative family, Chris grew up harmonizing with his two brothers in a household where classical, folk, pop, funk, and protest music all had a place. His mother, the late Ethel Werfel Owens, was his first music teacher, and his father, the late Major R. Owens, was a librarian-turned-elected official and Chris’ first political hero.
In the 1980s, Chris performed on the streets of New York City, in dance bands, and with his brother Geoffrey Owens (yes, that Geoffrey Owens). His only album-length cassette, 1984’s Anyone’s Revolution, voiced frustration with the Reagan era and caught the attention of family friend and folk icon Pete Seeger, who encouraged Chris to continue writing songs promoting peace and social justice and to collaborate with like-minded artists. Chris joined the People’s Music Network for Songs of Freedom and Struggle, and he remains an active member of the organization today.
The death of Chris’s father stimulated Chris to form a band with his brothers to perform again. But it was the death of his wife, Sandra Dixon, that led Chris to re-examine his life and reconnect with music in a new way. In 2020, reborn as “Chris Oledude”, he re-emerged in the digital age with a renewed mission: to blend “old school” genres – particularly pop, funk, and R&B – with the urgency of these times.
For Chris Oledude
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