Pink Floyd has reassembled for the first time in 28 years to record a protest song about the Ukraine war.
“Hey, Hey, Hey, Rise Up ” Along with long-time Floyd bassist Guy Pratt and Nitin Sawhney on keyboards, David Gilmour and Nick Mason are featured. The song, however, is based around a spine-tingling refrain by Boombox’s Ukrainian singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk. The song is a display of “anger at a superpower assaulting a peaceful nation,” according to Gilmour. But it’s also meant to be a morale booster for Ukrainians and a plea for “peace.” When Gilmour was shown Khlyvnyuk’s Instagram account a few weeks ago, he decided to start working on the song. The artist had broadcast video of himself fully equipped and ready to combat the Russian invasion in Kyiv’s Sofiyskaya Square.
Khlyvnyuk sung The Red Viburnum In The Meadow, a protest song composed during World War I that has become a rallying cry in Ukraine during the last six weeks, in front of the camera. “It just occurred to me that, because it’s a capella, one might convert this into a wonderful song,” Gilmour told Matt Everitt of BBC 6 Music.Gilmour had performed live with BoomBox at a London benefit concert for the Belarus Free Theatre in 2015, and he approached Khlyvnyuk to ask for permission. “I spoke to him from his hospital bed, where he had a rather minor mortar damage,” the star revealed. “So he’s right in the thick of it.” He gave me his blessing when I played him a tiny piece of the song over the phone.” On Friday at midnight, the song was published, with all earnings going to humanitarian help.
