In 2019, I met people from Extinction Rebellion. We sat in a bar on The Cut near Waterloo Station in London and talked about this exciting new global movement for change. I remember saying nervously, “Imagine people all over the world singing the same song. Perhaps because of my background in theatre, I believe the stories we tell through art, music, politics and media have the power to change our world. That night we talked about the history of protest songs, had a few drinks and decided to give it a shot.
From there I met friends at Decca and WWF International, and before we knew it a song had been written, a brilliant song created in a workshop with Violet Skies, Holly Fletcher and Robin Howl. They have graciously waived all rights to resolution songmaking possible the theory of global participation.
Song in hand, I assembled a team of tenacious volunteers and we began reaching out to musicians around the world to create their own versions of the song. The idea was stolen from folk tradition; each time someone sang the song in a new place, it took on a new language, a new style, a new identity.
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We launched the project at the United Nations Climate Conference in December 2019 and then, well, we all know what happened next. Over the past two years, we have been utterly amazed at the lineup of phenomenal musicians and activists who have come together to represent all corners of the globe.
From a girls’ group in Benin to an exercise group in Brazzaville, Congo, to the Kuikuro people in the Amazon; a
Mongolian nomad shepherd, the Georgian State Opera Chorus, flute players from the Solomon Islands and refugees from Eritrea, Iran and Syria. The song has been sung on the frontlines of climate change in San Andrés, Mozambique, the Marshall Islands, Antarctica, Haiti and the Maldives; places that will cease to exist in the next 20 years if we don’t act now.
Here in the UK, the NHS Choir have joined Resolution, along with the sensational Choir With No Name. These guys make music with people who have experienced homelessness all over the UK. Their version of the song is uplifting and truly wonderful.