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Pink Floyd’s First New Recording in Nearly 30 Years Was Inspired by a Lone Ukrainian Musician

Pink Floyd have reunited for a one-off charity single to raise money for Ukrainians affected by Russia’s invasion. “Hey, Hey, Rise Up” features vocals by Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the Ukrainian band, Boombox, who recorded himself in full military gear singing the folk song, “The Red Viburnum in the Meadow,” to the empty streets in Kyiv’s Sofiyskaya Square.

David Gilmour was so moved by the performance that he called Nick Mason, bassist Guy Pratt, and keyboardist Nitin Sawhney and organized a recording session last Wednesday that featured video of Khlyvnyuk projected on the wall. The performance marks the first time Pink Floyd have recorded new music since the release of 1994’s The Division Bell. (The music on 2014’s The Endless River came from the Division Bell sessions.)

The song’s video shows the band recording the tune with a Ukrainian flag and Khlyvnyuk’s video projected behind them, along with footage of Ukrainians affected by the horrors of the war. The group will donate money raised from the song to the Ukraine Humanitarian Relief Fund.

“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 in a statement. “I hope [the track] will receive wide support and publicity. We want to raise funds for humanitarian charities, and raise morale. We want to express 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.”

In a statement, Gilmour explained that in 2015 he was supposed to play a London concert that would also feature Boombox. Unfortunately, Khlyvnyuk had visa problems and didn’t make it to the show, so Gilmour performed “Wish You Were Here” with the rest of Boombox. “Recently I read that Andriy had left his American tour with Boombox, had gone back to Ukraine, and joined up with the Territorial Defense,” Gilmour said. “Then I saw this incredible video on Instagram, where he stands in a square in Kyiv with this beautiful gold-domed church and sings in the silence of a city with no traffic or background noise because of the war. It was a powerful moment that made me want to put it to music.”

The band recorded the song and video in Gilmour’s barn, where he and his family recorded their Von Trapped Family broadcasts last year. His daughter-in-law, Janina Pedan, who is Ukrainian, designed the set.

Ukraine since the invasion began last month. In early March, he tweeted, “Russian soldiers, stop killing your brothers. There will be no winners in this war. My daughter-in-law is Ukrainian and my granddaughters want to visit and know their beautiful country. Stop this before it is all destroyed. Putin must go.” A week and a half later, he removed his solo albums and the albums Pink Floyd released from 1987 to the present from streaming services in Russia and Belarus.

Back in February, Rolling Stone encountered Khlyvnyuk, who’d joined the civil defense, in the early day of the war. While Boombox had a major hit in Russia and other post-Soviet countries at the end of the 2000s, Khlyvnyuk made a pointed decision to stop performing in Russian at the start of the war in 2014.

When asked if some of his Russian peers in music and the arts had reached out to him to ask for forgiveness after the latest invasion began, he replied, “Forgiveness? Shame? You know, I’m fed up with that. In the end, it’s me who is ashamed of them. I do not feel any hatred, but I feel ashamed that so many creative, smart, and talented Russians still support the regime as if they are slaves. I do not say we, Ukrainians, are superior. I’m just ashamed.”

“Hey, Hey, Rise Up” lyrics

In the meadow a red viburnum has bent down low
Our glorious Ukraine has been troubled so
And we’ll take that red viburnum and we will raise it up
And we, our glorious Ukraine shall, hey – hey, rise up – and rejoice!
And we’ll take that red viburnum and we will raise it up
And we, our glorious Ukraine shall, hey – hey, rise up and rejoice!

Embedded video can be found by following this link


"too many notes, not enough music-"
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I like that the proceeds of the recording will go to the UHRF. I like the entire thought and impetus of the gesture.

And I understand why Gilmour called it "Pink Floyd". Lending the name to an essential cause is admirable. Calling it "Gilmour, Mason and Friends" would have been weird and not in the spirit of the Ukranian issue and Ukranian musicians. (I know Pratt has been in Gilmour's Floyd for many years).

Maybe I'll catch some flak for this - and it's just an afterthought and not important - but it's felt weird for 30 something years for me to think of Gilmour's incarnation of the band as "Pink Floyd". It never sat quite right.

Anyway, this is inspiring and important news to bring further attention to the cause. (Regardless of my own problems with the name - Gilmour owns the name and using it well in this case.)

I wonder if Waters will do something similar down the line? Hope so.

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I saw that this morning. I think it's wonderful!


Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.

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Artistic interpretations of political and social decorum has been a long-standing tool for those who choose to highlight wrongs and propose change. Pink Floyd has been at the forefront in a "quiet" manner as a voice for injustices on many levels. It's too bad that Roger Waters is not involved in this because while he is a controversial and alienating figure, the guy can write!

I've become an old man. I turned 65 in January. Things like Medicare and Social Security are now realities. Selfishly, I wish that the band could reunite, obviously missing Wright who unfortunately passed. I remember listening to the group in the late 60s and 70s and was amazed by how different they were from everyone else. I saw them several times and one of the things I always applauded them for was how they were just some guys in black tee shirts and jeans and they were not part of the "show." Their videos in the concerts were and this was before the era of MTV. Their music sure as hell was the show. I really admired that about Floyd. No attention seeking. Just music w/simple lyrics that captured the sense of social responsibility. Unfortunately, the rift between the bandmates reached a crescendo and things got ugly. So silly.

And I know neither Roger or David will read this, but I was there in Anaheim when you played to a packed crowd and you chided those who were engaging in fist-fighting as "silly people." You were right in your assessment, but my brothers, you two were wrong to fight, as well. No group even came close to what you did and you threw it away due to ego and bruised feelings.

Get back together and do your thing. You are still the best who ever did it. No one can approach your unique style and deep understanding of how the world works. Some can do one or the other, but no one does both like you did. And bring back Dick Perry on the sax.

Anyway, proud of David and Nick and standing up for a good cause!

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