In the weeks leading up to Together for Palestine, we concert organisers kept on encountering the same exhilarating problem: the show was expanding faster than any of us had anticipated. Word spread, artists called, and suddenly we had a wealth of extraordinary performers wanting to take part – far more than any single evening Wembley Arena was built to hold.
The bureaucracy at a venue like that can be unforgiving. There’s a hard curfew and once you run past it you’re into steep costs, not least because the entire Arena crew must be paid overtime rates. So we knew we had to finish by 11pm – sharp.
We were left with two choices: either shorten stage times to squeeze everyone in, or rethink how to bring everyone together onstage. We didn’t want a show that felt disjointed or unsatisfying for the performers, so we needed another solution.
A united voice
We had already intended to end with a large collective piece; a single moment in which the whole purpose of the night could be heard and felt, with the audience able to join in. We named our collective piece Lullaby, a powerful reimagining of a traditional Palestinian song to be performed by over a dozen British and Palestinian artists.
Singer Kieran Brunt set to work arranging it, in consultation with the great Palestinian singer Nai Barghouti and the extraordinary theatre-maker Amir Nizar Zuabi. Peter Gabriel provided the English lyrics, based on a translation of the Arabic original.
Celeste, Neneh Cherry and her daughters Tyson and Mabel were ready to go. Dan Smith from Bastille and Nadine Shah were fired up – as were the rest of us. We rehearsed with a fantastic group from the London Community Gospel Choir and, by the night before the show, the whole thing sounded wonderful.
Together, we hope Lullaby will also help keep Gaza very much in our hearts and minds, reminding people everywhere that even after the supposed ceasefire, Israel’s atrocities continue
As the show unfolded on concert night, it became clear that our schedule calculations were wildly optimistic. The musicians kept to their times, as did the road crews who changed instruments with astonishing speed, but we had completely underestimated the sheer force and duration of the applause after each set.
The speakers, buoyed by the warmth and energy of the room, similarly ran a little over. United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese received four minutes of applause alone. We certainly hadn’t accounted for that.
It soon became clear that we wouldn’t be able to show the extraordinary video Annie Lennox had made for us, and that we would miss the final song – our big closing moment. In the end, we had to concede defeat to the clock. It was agonising, but with every penny raised by the concert destined for Gaza, we couldn’t justify losing a significant chunk to overtime fees.
Charting justice
The concert was a tremendous success, elevating powerful calls for action in support of Palestine. Yet those of us behind the scenes were still disappointed to lose that last, beautiful song – as were the singers and the gospel choir. Kieran, who had worked heroically on the arrangement including by demoing every choral part himself, was especially crestfallen.
So we asked the singers whether they could come into a studio and record it properly. The logistics turned out to be more complicated than expected. Several had to hunt for scraps of available time. The recording at Miloco Studio took place over a fortnight, assembled slowly, often one or two voices at a time. Producer Benji B and co-producer Henri Davies were quiet heroes of the process, keeping everything moving and orchestrating the complex patchwork of overlapping overdub sessions.
After an earthquake’s worth of hiccups, the track was finally finished. Now, it’s out in the world and ready to be heard. All proceeds will go to Palestinian organisations, sending much-needed financial support to organisations working on the ground. We’re also excited – and a little astonished – to think it may become the first song in Arabic to reach number one in the UK charts.
Together, we hope Lullaby will also help keep Gaza very much in our hearts and minds, reminding people everywhere that even after the supposed ceasefire, Israel’s atrocities continue. Our movement must remain alive and burning, channeling all our creative powers towards justice and peace.
Lullaby is available to purchase here. All proceeds go through the Choose Love Together for Palestine Fund to Taawon, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and Palestinian Medical Relief Society
