Friends with Benefit
One Tree Hill series uses soundtrack to raise funds for cancer
By Mehvish Quraishy
Drop those iPods and MP3 players! An opportunity for great music comes to us in the form of a soundtrack to the hit television series One Tree Hill.
If you’re a fan of the show, then you’re probably aware of last season’s storyline with Peyton Sawyer, one of the show’s main characters whose biological mother struggled with and ultimately died from breast cancer. For those of you who are totally out of the loop, the two characters brought together a group of bands (before mother Ellie’s death) to contribute songs for a benefit CD, in order to raise money for breast cancer research.
Well here’s where we, as addicted music lovers, come in. Unlike the show’s characters Peyton and Ellie, the benefit CD, appropriately titled Friends with Benefit, stepped out of the small screen last year and proved to be an actual benefit album in our reality! This was the first time in television history that a storyline from a TV series had come to life and given birth to a brilliantly put together and worthwhile soundtrack. With an ensemble of amazing bands and a portion of the proceeds going towards The National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc. (NBCF), just as the characters had planned, Friends with Benefit should be in your car stereo right now.
From Jimmy Eat World and Fall Out Boy to underground bands like Mozella and Hot Hot Heat, the music is meant for just about anyone and everyone. Fans of the show will definitely love it since the album is made up of artists who have been heard, and sometimes seen, on One Tree Hill.
But this doesn’t exclude those who don’t watch the show. Many of the songs, such as Nada Surf’s “Always Love,” Jack’s Mannequin’s “The Mixed Tape” and Audioslave’s “Be Yourself,” are ones that they’ve probably heard and enjoyed on the radio. In fact, the video of Jack’s Mannequin’s “The Mixed Tape” actually appeared on MTV’s TRL countdown not too long ago, with Hilarie Burton (the actress who plays Peyton on One Tree Hill) as the video’s leading lady.
Although all 15 songs of Friends with Benefit have profound lyrics and catchy beats, my favorite would have to be “Halo” by Bethany Joy Lenz, who plays the part of Haley James-Scott, another main character on the show. The most pop sounding song on the album, “Halo” demonstrates Bethany’s rich and unique voice, which defines the song and gives it its feel-good rhythm.
So why did One Tree Hill and NBCF team up to make this compilation CD a reality? If you ask One Tree Hill creator and executive producer Mark Schwahn, he'll tell you, “We have an audience of young girls and women and selfishly, we'd like to keep them alive and healthy for years to come.” NBCF is eager for this opportunity as it provides a way to reach the younger audiences that watch the show and perhaps help with early detection of breast cancer.
There are a lot of things that go into making this a great soundtrack. The songs that you know, you’ll love even more; the songs that you have yet to hear, you’ll grow to love; and knowing that you’re making a difference by helping out a worthwhile cause is an additional bonus!
If you missed out on the hype when the CD released last February, don’t wait any longer! Go out and buy Friends with Benefit today! I guarantee you’ll be listening to this CD more than that iPod or MP3 player.
Friends with Benefit is available at Amazon.com
Visit www.nationalbreastcancer.org for information on early detection through self- examination. And watch the show that made this all possible - One Tree Hill, Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
Email Mehvish your thoughts: outloud@outloud.com
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