A Story of Finding Hope Over the Horizon

‘Over the Horizon’ is title for Samsung’s unique brand sound and if you are a Samsung Galaxy S series user, you have definitely heard of sound at least once. Although the original version of the ‘Over the Horizon’ was created by Samsung Sound Lab, there are many different versions created by different people, including the one by Rafael Gomez.

And today we want to share with you the touching story of Rafael Gomez and the making of his version of <Over the Horizon>. 

*Click here to listen to Galaxy S4 Track #2: Over the Horizon by Samsung Sound Lab.

Finding Rafael’s <Over the Horizon> 

The composer of the original melody of <Over the Horizon>, Jung Sam Yoon, Senior Engineer, UX Design 3 Group, Samsung Electronics, has often found variations of <Over the Horizon> produced by users on YouTube. Among the many versions of the song, Rafael Gomez’s video caught his attention.

The innocent smiles on the children’s faces and the beautiful words set to the tune strongly touched the composer’s heart. The children singing for hope looked so happy in the video that he wondered how the video came to be made. Curiosity got the best of him and he sent an email to the producer, Rafael Gomez.

“I tend to look for videos for “Over the Horizon.” So far, a lot different versions of the song have been introduced. However, this video gave me different a feeling. At first, the children in the video caught my eyes and then the lyrics.”

• Josh Youn (Senior Designer, Samsung Electronics)

Rafael wrote back and now we get to learn about how the video came to be. Touched by the story, Josh also shared the video with Jamie Christopherson, who arranged the version Rafael Gomez used.

“Wow wow wow guys! … I’m really very touched and impressed. What a wonderful lyric version and recording. Brought tears to my eyes!”

• Jamie Christopherson

Rafael’s Over the Horizon

In November 2013, Rafael Gomez happened upon an advertisement about a video contest run by Samsung. He found out that if he wrote lines to the <Over the Horizon> tune and made a video then he could win a cash prize. He thought he might have a chance at it, so he downloaded the song <Over the Horizon> and set to work.

One of the big reasons Gomez decided to take part in the contest was that he was in desperate need of money. At that time, not only was he jobless, but also was he suffering from kidney disease and had to undergo kidney dialysis three times a week. This was actually the beginning of creating his version of the <Over the Horizon>.

Hoping for a new beginning over the horizon

Rafael fell in love with Over the Horizon and it brought him many memories.

“While I was listening to “Over the Horizon,” I felt as if I were in love. It even reminded me of one of my favorite songs, “Over the Rainbow.” And then, I could picture the images from the northeastern region of Mexico where a lot people had to leave their hometown, their families, jobs and homes behind.”

• Rafael Gomez

In fact, Gomez was born in Matamoros, a port city in the northeast of Mexico. He shared that many people were leaving the city and moving to the U.S. for a safer life with more opportunities. Some could say that the residents of Matamoros were travelling “over the horizon” to seek new opportunities.

Thinking about the hardships that his friends and family had endured in Mexico, Rafael decided to deliver a message of overcoming pain and embracing hope for a new beginning.

Bringing the neighborhood together

When Rafael told his wife about the contest, she asked for assistance from Ms. Chapa, who was talented in music, and formed a children’s choir. A lead vocal was needed so Ms. Chapa selected Jaime Tadeo Garza as the lead vocalist and star of the video – he was chosen in part for his warm smile.

With three weeks to the deadline, the music video was shot at the school’s gym. The children practiced long hours to help make sure the video turned out perfect.

In terms of shooting and editing the video, Rafael and his team did not have a camera and a laptop to begin with so they had to borrow the devices from their acquaintances. Isabella, Rafael’s daughter, shot the video as she majored in movie-making.

After the shooting and editing, the team started to record the music. However, as they were not professionals, they had difficulty in producing the song in the best quality. When a neighbor who ran an audio studio heard about their problem, he instantly offered his studio to them.

“The children gathered together again for recording and we finally finished the job. Jaime burst into tears after recording. He knew what the lyrics meant.”

• Rafael Gomez

Not only did Jamie cry, but the lyrics were so heart touching that Maryella, Rafael Gomez’s wife, was also in tears when it was completed.

During the making of the video, Rafael’s health was deteriorating. He felt very dizzy and his condition worsened. He was suffering from renal failure for 9 years and had kidney dialysis three times a week, which gradually made him weak. Despite his sickness, thanks to everyone’s help, his version of <Over the Horizon> was created.

An unexpected glitch, then the miracle

Now with the new <Over the Horizon> completed, Rafael was ready to upload the music video and submit it for the contest. However, to his surprise, uploading the video took a lot of time compared with the size of it. He tried it for two days; nonetheless, he failed to submit his video in time.

Although Rafael and his family were disappointed, they decided to share the message of hope to the world. So, he and his family decided to upload it on YouTube.

“I tried uploading it for two days, but I failed. I told my heartbroken daughter, “We can’t do this. I think it is Nature’s Plan that we share this hopeful message with others, instead of applying the contest. Let’s upload the video on YouTube in order for people to see it.”

• Rafael Gomez

As soon as the video was shown to the world, unexpected things started to happen to Rafael and his family. On March 11 2014, he received a phone call from a university transplant center in San Antonio, a city in south Texas, saying that they had finally found the right kidney for him. The next day, which was also Rafael’s birthday, he had his kidney transplant surgery. Now he is fully recovered and is a healthy man. Rafael says that he has come to love his wife and four daughters more than before and the family has become much happier and strongly attached to each other.

▲ Rafael Gomez recovering his health

▲ A photo of Rafael and his family on Isabella’s younger sister’s birthday

(Rafael, Maryella, Carolina, Isabella, Marylela, Catalina (from the left))

As <Over the Horizon> brought hope to Rafael and his family, Rafael also hopes that his song will give back to the world in various ways.

There was no prize money, and no Academy award. But Gomez’s take on <Over the Horizon> is definitely inspirational.

Tell us what you think about Rafael’s version of the <Over the Horizon> in the comments below.

* Other articles about ‘Over the Horizon’

Quincy Jones Goes Over the Horizon with Galaxy Music Project 

Sound Design Essentials: The Intro

Sound Design Essentials: The Chorus

Sound Design Essentials: The Artists