The track was made to support citizens of the Ukraine
Members of Pink Floyd have reunited for a worthy cause. David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and longtime Pink Floyd bassist Guy Pratt have joined forces with Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the Ukrainian band BoomBox to record a new song “Hey Hey Rise Up.” Proceeds from the track will go to support the people of the Ukraine.
“We, like so many, have been feeling the fury and the frustration of this vile act of an independent, peaceful democratic country being invaded and having its people murdered by one of the world’s major powers,” Gilmour said, whose has a Ukrainian daughter-in-law and grandchildren.
The song and accompanying music video are are scheduled for release tonight at midnight. It features Khlyvnyuk on vocals and Nitin Sawhney on keyboards. Gilmour, Mason, and Pratt handled guitar, drums, and bass duties respectively.
The track uses Andriy’s vocals taken from his Instagram post of him in Kyiv’s Sofiyskaya Square singing, “Oh, The Red Viburnum In The Meadow,” a rousing Ukrainian folk protest song written during the first world war. The title of the Pink Floyd track is taken from the last line of the song which translates as “Hey, hey, rise up and rejoice.”
The video for “Hey Hey Rise Up” was filmed by acclaimed director Mat Whitecross and shot on the same day as the track was recorded, with Andriy singing on the screen while the band played.
Speaking about his hopes for the track Gilmour says, “I hope it will receive wide support and publicity. We want to raise funds and morale. We want to show our support for Ukraine and in that way, show that most of the world thinks that it is totally wrong for a superpower to invade the independent democratic country that Ukraine has become.
The artwork for the track features a painting of the national flower of Ukraine, the sunflower, by the Cuban artist, Yosan Leon. The cover of the single is a direct reference to the woman who was seen around the world giving sunflower seeds to Russian soldiers and telling them to carry them in their pockets so that when they die, sunflowers will grow.
