Sarah McLachlan and Her Music Students Make 'Space on the Couch for Two'

Sarah McLachlan may have been out of the public spotlight lately, but she's hasn't been taking it easy. Instead, she's devoted her time to the Sarah McLachlan School of Music, a free after-school program in Vancouver for at-risk youth from grades 3-12.

A few weeks ago, some of the students were doing a photo shoot for some promotional materials when, well, magic happened. "We all had instruments in our hands and so the easiest thing to do is just start playing," McLachlan tells Spinner. "This little boy behind me started playing a couple chords and I said, 'What is that?' He said, 'It's nothing.' But I said, 'Play it again, it sounds like a song.'"

Indeed, that's exactly what it turned out to be. In fact, it turned out to be a Christmas song. McLachlan started jamming with kids, going from room to room to get the kids' input "just to see what would happen." By the time she reached some high-school kids, the song, later named 'Space on the Couch for Two' started coming together.

"It was amazing, such fertile ground."

In five minutes they had a chorus and about an hour later she brought it to a 17-year-old named Freya Cirulis who has a punk rock band and "literally ten minutes later across her arm in sharpie were the verses."

"It was totally last-minute, totally organic," McLachlan enthuses. "Six days from start to finish we recorded it, mixed it, we filmed it, edited the video and put it all up."

'Space on the Couch for Two' features the iconic singer on lead vocals with the backing vocals and all the music supplied by the students. The song and the video are both free, but McLachlan does hope that listeners take the opportunity to make a donation to the school so that she can continue providing this service far into the future.

"I love being at the school and being involved with the kids, so it was really fantastic to feel my roots sinking in and mentor them through this process and show them how it all works."

Watch Sarah McLachlan Perform 'Space on the Couch for Two'
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