Mendham Teen’s Anti-War Anthem Now Streaming: See Details

MENDHAM, NJ — A Mendham 13-year-old’s newest song is now available to download and stream on several services.

“Dreams Don’t Belong To War,” an original song by Mackenzie Reff, serves as an anthem for young people who are growing up in increasingly violent times.

The young songwriter previously told Patch she was looking to “advocate for other kids, and to share my wish for there to be more love and peace in the world,” when she wrote the words while in her closet.

"I don't understand why we're scared to stand in a world that we didn't break," the teen's song goes. "War is the killer of future dreams, tearing apart what could've been. We just want to laugh, we just want to play, not learn to hide, not run away."

Mackenzie said she hopes the song isn't just heard by fellow kids, but by adults, so they can understand the world they're leaving their children in if the violence and chaos don't cease.

“Dreams Don’t Belong to War” was produced with the help of Antonio Sciortino of Dreamscape Records, with whom Mackenzie is working on the upcoming web series “The Bully’s Club.”

Sciortino says the song is not "just music," but a message, adding that "children should never have to understand war before they understand their dreams.”

Mackenzie is no stranger to performing, having made her professional debut at Bucks County Theater in 2023, but this is the first time a song of hers has been featured on major streaming platforms.

She says the message she hopes people take away after listening to the song is to “work together,” specifically to create a world with “a lot less hate and a lot more love.”

"Dreams Don't Belong To War" is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube. You can listen to the song below: