Mattias Paul, better known as Paul van Dyk, has been in the electronic music scene for over 20 years. In 2000 he released this track, “We Are Alive, ” a remix of Jennifer Brown’s “Alive.” Flash forward 16 years and this song is more important and pressing than ever.
In Feb 2016, van Dyk was performing at A State of Trance event in Utrecht and fell off of the stage. At the time, no one knew how devastating the fall was but it was enough for Armin van Buuren to cancel his vinyl set and more or less shut down that particular stage. As someone who watched the stream and who is a fan of van Dyk. For months, we waited on bated breath for information about his recovery when finally, along with publishing a Facebook message about the event and his appreciation for his fans, followed by an interview on Night Owl Radio to EDC Las Vegas, which would be his first performance since the accident. In this interview he stated every track plays will be him saying thank you for everything and his appreciation for life will translate through his music.
This past weekend I made sure to attend his performance and can say without a doubt that I could feel his spirit and appreciation. The fact that his set began with this track, says it all and I’m not ashamed to share that my eyes began to tear upon hearing it.
Stream Paul van Dyk – We Are Alive on YouTube:
We are ali-i-i-ve…
Take a break
We are ali-i-i-ve…
Take a deep breath
We are ali-i-i-ve…
It’s pretty miraculous that Paul van Dyk survived a fall where he sustain two injuries to his spinal cord, a traumatic brain injury, multiple other injuries and had to relearn how to walk and talk. However, he’s alive and that is something he is not taking lightly. He’s alive and that’s something to celebrate.
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Website | SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter
