This is the original TIAA Commercial as broadcast in 2004 during the opening ceremonies for the Olympics on NBC in the USA.
A commercial for TIAA features a recording by David Sylvian. The track is a vocal rendition of Somewhere (from West Side Story). The commercial for TIAA was shown during the opening ceremonies for the Olympics on NBC in the USA.
The demo-master track itself was available for download for a very long time on David’s website.
Here’s the full story:
David was asked to do a demo of the song by the advertising agency of TIAA and he delivered it early August
2004. They agency loved it and asked him to record that 60 second excerpt with the orchestral backing, which he delivered on August 9th.
On Friday (August 13th), the agency told Opium (Arts) the client loved it and they were going to use it (…. i.e. immediately ;-).
Excuses for the quality but the video they used on their website was very small and not in a quality we have today in the YouTube era. I managed to convert it to a playable video format and offered it to YouTube.
West Side Story related information:
Somewhere is an emotional duet where Maria and Tony desperately wish they could turn back the clock and
escape from their predicament.
There’s a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us
Somewhere.
There’s a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time spare,
Time to learn, time to care,
Some day!
Somewhere.
We’ll find a new way of living,
We’ll find a way of forgiving
Somewhere . . .
There’s a place for us,
A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we’re halfway there.
Hold my hand and I’ll take you there
Somehow,
Some day,
Somewhere!
