Some time ago, I stopped following politics and even stopped watching the news or reading a newspaper. I’m a much happier person since I did. Still, sometimes it means that I miss something important to me.
The latest such example is on the Pink Floyd front. If you’ve been around for a while, you know I’m a huge fan and consider them to best rock band in history. Of course, the band has long since dissolved and there’s not much news to be had. Roger Waters left the band decades ago, Rick Wright is dead, and iconic guitarist David Gilmour has been adamant that he is finished with Pink Floyd and has no interest in resurrecting the band. He relented when Wright died so that he and drummer Nick Mason could do a tribute album for him. That was in 2014 and although Gilmour, Mason, and Waters are still performing, none of them has appeared as Pink Floyd.
Then the Ukraine war happened. It turns out that Gilmour’s daughter in law, artist Janina Pedan, is Ukrainian and he has two grandchildren who are half Ukrainian. He was very frustrated that there was nothing he could do to support the Ukrainians until Pedan sent him a video of Andriy Khlyvnyuk, a member of the Ukrainian band Boombox, singing an a cappella version of a Ukrainian anthem. Gilmour realized that he could put this to music and in just a couple of weeks had put something together. He called Mason, who enthusiastically signed on, and along with a couple of other long time Pink Floyd backing members recorded the song as Pink Floyd and made a video.
You can see Gilmour being interviewed on CNN about the song and watch the video itself here. All proceeds from the sale of the song are being donated to the Ukrainian relief efforts so if you’re looking for a way to help the Ukrainians and are a Pink Floyd fan, purchasing the song is an excellent way of doing so.