Photo: Matthew Eisman / Getty Images
When the invasion of Ukraine began, singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk interrupted his US tour, returned home and took up arms to defend their homeland.
A few days later, the singer of the Ukrainian band Boombox posted a clip on Instagram showing him in a military uniform, a New York Yankees baseball cap and carrying a rifle performing “The Red Viburnum In The Meadow,” a Ukrainian protest song written during World War I, according to NPR. .
“A bit of motivation from the leader of the group ‘Boombox’ Andriy Khlyvnyuk”, the musician then wrote.
Now, rock legends Pink Floyd have taken over Khlyvnyuk’s voice and composed a charity single with her: the band’s first new original music since “Division Bell” on 1994.
The track, “Hey Hey Rise Up”, released in support of the people of Ukraine, features David Gilmour and Nick Mason, accompanied by Pink Floyd bassist Guy Pratt and Nitin Sawhney on keyboards, all accompanied by the extraordinary voice of Andriy Khlyvnyuk, of the Ukrainian band Boombox.
Pink Floyd stated that all proceeds from this song will go to humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
1/3 Tonight at midnight, Pink Floyd will release a new song, ‘Hey Hey Rise Up’, which sees David Gilmour and Nick Mason joined by Guy Pratt & Nitin Sawhney, with an extraordinary vocal by Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Ukrainian band Boombox.
Listen/download at https://t.co/i1l92D3AYU— Pink Floyd (@pinkfloyd) April 7, 2022
2/3 Gilmour, who has a Ukrainian daughter-in- law & grandchildren: “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.”
— Pink Floyd (@pinkfloyd) April 7, 2022
The title of the song refers to the last line of the protest song sung by Andriy Khlyvnyuk: “Hey hey, rise up and rejoice.” (“Hey, get up and rejoice”, in Spanish).
Pink Floyd said in the presentation of the video on YouTube: “Here is the video official for ‘Hey Hey Rise Up’, Pink Floyd’s new Ukraine fundraiser with Boombox’s Andriy Khlyvnyuk. Stream/download from midnight at http://pinkfloyd.lnk.to/HeyHeyRiseUp
How did the song come about
“We, like many, have been feeling the fury and frustration of this vile act of a independent, peaceful and democratic country that is invaded and that its people are assassinated by one of the main powers of the world”, said Gilmour,
who has a Ukrainian daughter-in-law and grandchildren, in a statement on the band’s website.
Pink Floyd said in the statement that the song, recorded last Wednesday (30 March), uses Andriy’s voice taken from his Instagram post of him singing on Sofiyskaya square in kyiv. The song itself, “The Red Viburnum In The Meadow”, is a poignant Ukrainian protest song written during the first world war that has been taken up all over the world during last month in protest of the invasion of Ukraine.
Gilmour said that He spoke to Khlyvnyuk, who is recovering from a shrapnel wound, and played a clip for him. “He gave me his blessing,” Gilmour said.
The track artwork features a painting of Ukraine’s national flower, the sunflower, by 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.
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