On April 28, Minnesotans and other Midwest residents were rocked by threats of severe weather, including intense thunderstorms, apple-sized hail and tornadoes. In the early evening, the world went dark as heavy rain and high winds rolled in.
Luckily, no tornadoes touched down in Northfield, but many residents took cover due to local tornado sirens. Among those sheltering were the members of the Carleton Choir. The singers hurriedly rushed down to the basement of Weitz as the skies grew dark.
At first, the Weitz basement erupted in chaos. Choir members wailed (in F-sharp minor) and screamed at such a high pitch that windows and glass display cases began to crack. In the midst of this pandemonium, though, one creative musician had a plan.
“I saw my fellow choirmen in disarray, and I knew that something had to be done,” said Melody Singh ’26. “So, I took charge by doing the only thing I know how to do. I sang a song. A FIGHT song.”
And so, Singh began to sing a rousing rendition of Rachel Platten’s 2015 hit “Fight Song”. Her voice pierced through the racket unfolding in the depths of the basement, and as the winds beat against the walls of the Weitz, the choir singers ceased the tearing of their matching robes and lifted their heads to hear the tune.
“I was huddling in a corner in a puddle of my own tears,” said choir member Ivan Offkey. “But then those lyrics, those wonderful, real, powerful lyrics, brought me to my feet. Why did I give up as soon as I heard the thunder roaring? I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me!”
Offkey and others soon assembled into their concert positions, and they all joined Singh in Platten’s inspiring ballad, complete with stomping and ad-libbing, chanting verses such as “My power’s turned on … starting right now I’ll be strong.” The singing continued and continued…and continued until the tornado warning turned back to a watch and the sun started to peek through the clouds. While the change in weather occurred merely because the storm had passed, many members of the choir believed it was they who held off the storm.
“We showed that tornado who’s boss! We said that starting right now we’ll be strong, and I think that tornado got scared and left Northfield,” said choir student Anita Rehearse. “My guess is the tornado is a man, and he was intimidated by our #bossbabe energy.”
While the choir students were overjoyed during and after their impromptu performance, many other art, film and music students who were also sheltered in the Weitz basement during the weather event had varying opinions of the singing.
“I would rather sit outside the Weitz during that tornado than hear a single word of that godforsaken song ever again,” an anonymous student said.
