"Albertine" is a song by singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Brooke Fraser

Brooke Fraser

Brooke Gabrielle Fraser Ligertwood, better known as Brooke Fraser is a New Zealand award-winning folk-pop and Christian music artist...

, and the third single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from her second studio album, Albertine

Albertine (album)

Albertine is the second album by New Zealand singer-songwriter, Brooke Fraser. It was released in New Zealand and in the Oceanic region's iTunes store on 4 December 2006. The album was released in Australia on 31 March 2007, where it peaked at #29. The album's lead single is "Deciphering Me". The...

. It was largely inspired by a Rwanda

Rwanda

Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

n orphan, by the name of Albertine, whom Fraser met while there in 2005.

"Albertine" did not appear on any record chart

Record chart

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

, but it won Fraser the annual APRA Silver Scroll.

Background and release

Fraser went to Rwanda

Rwanda

Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

 on behalf of World Vision

World Vision

World Vision, founded in the USA in 1950, is an evangelical relief and development organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of...

 in 2005, the first of many trips. While there, she met a girl named Albertine, who had become orphaned by the genocide

Rwandan Genocide

The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...

 of 1994. Fraser described Albertine as "tall and beautiful". Her guide, Joel, took her to a village school in Kabuga district, and showed her a girl whose life the guide had personally saved. On her return, she felt she was "in a position where I could share [a] message with other people [and as a musician] that could be a great way to contribute in and of itself". "Albertine" tells the "tale of courage" of the two Rwandans in the 1990s.

"Albertine" was released by Sony BMG on 9 July 2007 as a digital

Music download

A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

 EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, as well as a CD single

CD single

A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...

.

Musical and lyrical composition

"Albertine" is a guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

-based pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

. Mike Schiller from PopMatters

PopMatters

PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...

 said that "its rhythmic, largely amelodic guitar work stands in sharp contrast to the lush, almost cloying melodic sensibilities of the rest of the album."

The lyrics of "Albertine" describe Fraser's feelings while visiting Rwanda, and her responsibility to help the Rwandan people.
Chris Thomas from suite101.com

Suite101.com

Suite101 is a Canadian online magazine that publishes articles by freelance writers. It generates revenue from advertisements and shares the revenue with article writers. Suite101 was established in 1996 and has published in excess of 300,000 articles by more than 10,000 freelance writers.- History...

 described it as "a tale of one less fortunate than herself; one who needs the love, care and support of those who are more fortunate". Another reviewer said that "On its surface, 'Albertine' is a song about a tall and beautiful girl who survived the Rwandan genocide. Really, though, it’s a song about a whole lot more. Really, it’s a song about faith, it’s a song about hope, it’s a song about love… and it’s a song about deeds.

Reception

The Southern Cross selected "Albertine" as one of the standout songs from Fraser's album.

"Albertine" did not appear on any official record chart, and was the first of Fraser's singles that did not chart on the New Zealand Singles Chart

Recording Industry Association of New Zealand

The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...

. It did, however, win Fraser the 2007 APRA Silver Scroll, a peer-chosen award for songwriters. Other contenders for the Silver Scroll in 2007 included "Maybe" by Opshop

Opshop

Opshop is a New Zealand rock band formed in 2002. Their first album, You Are Here was released in 2004. Their second album, Second Hand Planet was released in 2007 and received Triple Platinum certification. It produced the successful single, One Day...

, "Light Surrounding You

Light Surrounding You

"Light Surrounding You" is the second single by Evermore, taken from their second studio album Real Life. It was written by Dann Hume, the drummer....

" by Evermore, Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! by The Mint Chicks

The Mint Chicks

The Mint Chicks were an experimental noise rock/power pop group originally from Auckland, New Zealand, who relocated to Portland, Oregon, USA in 2007...

, and Fraser's "Deciphering Me

Deciphering Me

"Deciphering Me" is artist/songwriter Brooke Fraser's sixth single, and her first single from her second studio album Albertine. The song debuted on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number forty on 23 October 2006 and on 4 December 2006, peaked at number four. It remained on the chart for a total...

", also released from Albertine

Albertine

Albertine , derived from the name Albert, may refer to any bearer of that name; especially:* The Albertine Rift, part of the Great Rift Valley* The Albertine Statute* The Franciscan Albertine Brothers* A branch of the House of Wettin...

.

Fraser performed "Albertine" at the 2007 New Zealand Music Awards

New Zealand Music Awards

The New Zealand Music Awards show, is a major annual New Zealand music event where musical acts and singers are awarded each year. It has occurred every year since 1965 to outstanding New Zealand musicians and groups....

, where her album won the Highest Selling Album award, and "Deciphering Me

Deciphering Me

"Deciphering Me" is artist/songwriter Brooke Fraser's sixth single, and her first single from her second studio album Albertine. The song debuted on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number forty on 23 October 2006 and on 4 December 2006, peaked at number four. It remained on the chart for a total...

" won Airplay Record of the Year.

Music video

The music video for Albertine was shot in May 2007 in Rwanda

Rwanda

Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

. Fraser posted a blog entry in her official MySpace

MySpace

Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

 blog while en route to Rwanda from Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

. In this entry, she stated:
Later, on 15 July the video for the song was released on Brooke Fraser's official YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

channel. It shows mostly face shots at the start of the video interspersed with pictures of children from Rwanda, before finally showing Fraser walk along a bridge as Rwandan people walk by.

Track listing

All songs written by Brooke Fraser.

Albertine – EP

1. "Albertine – 3:57
2. "C.S. Lewis Song" (live) – 5:12
3. "Faithful" (demo) – 7;49