The United States hosted Pope Francis earlier this fall as he visited a handful of cities, and the chance is now available for Americans to listen to him every single day via his new album “Wake Up!”
Made up of the pope’s prayers and speeches alongside musical compositions, this album is not the first of its kind. Producer and artistic director Don Giulio Neroni has done this before.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Neroni said, “For many years, I’ve been the producer and the artistic director of albums by the pope. I had the honor to work with John Paul II, Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis.”
The music of “Wake Up!” ranges from pop rock to Gregorian chant, and it includes important Christian hymns. The versatility of the album is meant to represent, as Neroni said, Pope Francis’ message of “dialogue, open doors [and] hospitality” while maintaining the Christian tradition.
The album is Vatican-approved and was made in collaboration with Believe Digital. The 11 tracks feature hymns with excerpts from the Pope’s most famous speeches in Spanish, English and Italian.
A significant line or theme names each track. The album booklet features the translations as well as the specific audience, location and date of its original delivery.
The album is named for the seventh track: “Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!” was a speech delivered in English to South Korean youths. This, along with the other tracks, “intend to outline a path of the highlights of Action Ministry of Pope Francis,” according to the album booklet.
The album opens with “Annuntio Vobis Gaudium Magnum!,” Pope Francis’ first greeting from St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City in March 2013. Right away, the music is modern and mysterious — synths and gentle chimes lay down an easy melody that slides into a gentle hymn.
Pope Francis then begins to speak, thanking the people for welcoming him. The track becomes a prayer again, this time a traditional Jewish one. Many of the tracks alternate this way, combining the Pope’s words with song. In this speech, he explains the importance of unity. “Let us pray for the whole world, that there may be a great spirit of fraternity,” he says.
“Salve Regina,” the second song, is an excerpt from a meeting with Argentinian youths combined with a homily given in Italy. This music has a South American style, and Pope Francis speaks in Spanish. He preaches of Mary’s importance, and that she “teaches us to have that gaze which strives to welcome, to accompany and to protect.”
The third track, called “Cuidar el Planeta,” introduced Pope Francis’ famous urge to protect the planet and be environmentally friendly. This music has a Spanish feel, with a Spanish hymn called “Càntico de las criaturas.”
“Protect our Sister Earth, our Mother Earth, so that she does not react with destruction,” Pope Francis says, while stressing that feeding everyone is an “expression of the common conscience of humanity.”
Delivered in the Philippines, track four is called “¿Por Qué Sufren Los Niños?” It is gentle, an Italian hymn that is backed by strings. The pope says that we must learn how to weep for the world, recognizing our own privilege and then empathizing with those who are different from us.
“Non lasciatevi rubare la speranza!,” the fifth track, is among the most powerful. Pope Francis speaks to students from Italy and Albania, urging them to remain hopeful. “Do not let yourselves be robbed of hope!” he cries.
The sixth track, named “La Iglesia No Puede Ser una ONG!,” is similar. The music is tribal and his message stresses values in family and life.
Track seven, mentioned before, is the titular track and for English speakers, possibly the most moving. Pope Francis speaks animatedly yet carefully to South Korean youth as a rock beat plays in the background.
“It is a duty to be vigilant, not to allow the pressures, the temptations and the sins to dull our sensibility of the beauty of holiness,” Pope Francis says on the track. He wants young people to be aware of their duty and relationship with God.
The remaining tracks continue to stress his overall plea for unity. “La Fe Es Entera, No Se Licua!” explains that we are made to forgive one another as Christ did.
“Pace! Fratelli!” is about, of course, peace and brotherhood. Pope Francis says that “In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words ‘division,’ ‘hatred’ and ‘war’ be banished from the heart of every man and woman.”
Tracks 10 and 11 are reminders of the importance of Mary and Joseph and their spirits of welcome and kindness. It is these two elements that Pope Francis seems to emulate in this album, and as the leader of the Catholic Church.
He stresses unity and brotherhood, believing that these are possible because of forgiveness and peace, but he also knows that he cannot achieve these things by simply saying them to crowds. Though this album, Pope Francis calls us to wake up and help him.
