Music

Hey Hey Rise Up: the meaning of Pink Floyd’s last song

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On April 8, 2022, Pink Floyd are back after the official release of a new song, Hey Hey Rise Up, openly supporting the Ukrainian resistance against the invasion by Russia. The official video of the song is below.

Pink Floyd - Hey Hey Rise Up (feat. Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Boombox)
Watch this video on YouTube.

The song was made in collaboration with Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the American rock band BoomBox. Andriy was on tour when the attack on Ukraine began, he interrupted the tour and returned to Ukraine to defend his nation. Once back, he posted a video in which he sang the song The Red Viburnum in the Meadow (Oi u luzi chervona kalyna), a traditional Ukrainian patriotic song. All this is explained at the beginning of the official video.

The lyrics of the song is therefore that of the patriotic Ukrainian song and represents a message of resistance against those who want to subjugate the Ukrainian people. You can find it below.

Oh, in the meadow a red viburnum has bent down low
For some reason, our glorious Ukraine is in sorrow
And we’ll take that red viburnum and we will raise it up
And we shall cheer for our glorious Ukraine, hey, hey
And we shall cheer for our glorious Ukraine, hey, hey

By turning a Ukrainian patriotic anthem into a new song, Pink Floyd’s position thus represents an open support on the side of Ukraine and its resistance. A clearer position than the one of former leader Roger Waters, who instead expressed some time ago on Facebook a more articulate reasoning, underlining how taking one side (any of them) still means playing the game of the warlords, whom he called “gangsters”.

Published by Carlo Affatigato

Carlo has been a web content creator for over 10 years. He founded Auralcrave in 2015, envisioning it as a new space capable of offering different perspectives on topics that passionate all of us. With a scientific background, Carlo developed an interest in music, cinema, literature, and art at a young age, transforming it into a complementary dimension to his professional growth. For years, he was a music journalist specializing in electronic and dance music, writing for the most important Italian magazines (both online and print). Movies and TV series have been a true obsession in many phases of his life: during university, it was not uncommon for him to set the alarm in the middle of the night to watch classic films airing on TV. With the advent of the Internet, Carlo became a keen observer of web and social phenomena, addressing light topics such as advertising, trends, fashion, and general themes. He is the main author of Auralcrave and personally manages its social media, editorial line, book publication, resource management, and business expansion. A former engineer, life coach, husband, and father, he believes that every area of knowledge has interesting stories that deserve to be told and is convinced that doing so makes the world a better place.