After last night’s grim entry, I figure we could use something a little more uplifting this morning. At least I could. So here’s a music video I’ve be meaning to post for a few days, a nifty version of one of my favorite songs, the old Leiber and Stoller chestnut “Stand by Me” as recorded by Jon Bon Jovi and an Iranian singer named Andy Madadian. I first spotted this over on Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish, but it’s been making its way around the Interwebs, and I’m proud to do my part to spread it farther. There’s an intro on the clip by producer Don Was that explains what it’s all about; you can also listen to an NPR interview with Andy that gives a little more background.

And now for the music:

As Don Was says, the song isn’t available for sale anywhere, but if you like it, you can download a free MP3 here. I like it a lot myself; I’m frankly astounded by the flexibility of this song, how it can be performed in Farsi of all things and yet still work as well as when Ben E. King laid down the original version all the way back in 1961. They don’t call them classics for nothing, kids.

Hope we’re all feeling better now…