To the utter amazement of young climate activist and musician, Louise Harris, Victoria Mary Clarke, the recently widowed wife of Shane MacGowan, has called on The Pogues to support her climate song, “We Tried”, to be Christmas No.1.
On Tuesday evening, Louise posted a direct appeal to Victoria, via a public video on social media (YouTube, Twitter, Instagram), where she stated:
“I’m asking if you would please consider backing my song, “We Tried”, written about the climate crisis and what will happen if we don’t act, for Christmas Number One this year, instead of your husband, Shane MacGowan’s, song, “Fairytale of New York”.
Louise called on her followers on Twitter and Instagram to tag Victoria in the comments and in their story, “so there’s a chance she actually gets to see this”.
Victoria replied as soon as an hour later to her posts, across platforms. One particular reply came in response to the following comment on Louise’s video appeal:
“@branchytreeart: @victoriamaryclarke Fairytale of New York will be in the charts every Christmas til the end of time, please help shift the focus this year before we lose any more precious time on to the climate crisis and the action that needs to be taken now so that we might have a future ❤️ thank you x”
Victoria simply replied: “I would love to help”.
Victoria then took to Twitter immediately, sharing Louise’s music video, retweeting Louise’s call to action to make “We Tried” a climate Christmas No.1, and quote tweeting Louise’s video appeal, tagging none other than The Pogues, Shane MacGowan, various journalists & presenters, as well as the CEO of Johnny Depp’s entertainment company, in2.film. She said:
“This is so beautiful and brave and passionate! Let’s please support this cause!!! @poguesofficial @sunstroke_house @ShaneMacGowan @itsanitarani @timjonze @shattenstone @AoDespair”
Victoria also commented on the YouTube video of Louise’s appeal:
“Thank you so much for your passion and your commitment and your courage ❤️ I am sharing your song ❤️”.
The following morning, Wed 20th, Victoria also shared another of Louise’s Reels to her Instagram story, where Louise says “COME ON WE ARE JUST UNDERNEATH THE POGUES !!!!!!!” and highlights how “We Tried” is sitting just underneath The Pogues at No.5 in the iTunes Single Chart and Digital Sales UK Chart.
“We Tried” has now entered the Betting Race for Christmas No.1 for the first time. Odds have already fallen from 490:1 to 14:1, making it 4th favourite to win.
Known for her internationally viral moment crying on a gantry above the M25 as part of a Just Stop Oil protest, Louise wrote “We Tried” deliberately from our currently projected future perspective of irreversible climate catastrophe (“We ran out of time…oh well, we tried”). Louise hopes this song will allow people to feel how they would feel if this future happened – and then use that feeling to spur themselves into the only hopeful solution left: collective climate action. Her heart-wrenching music video ends with the message: “It’s not too late to avoid irreversible climate catastrophe. “There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all” (IPCC Report, March 2023). We have time – but not for long. Join collective action today.”
“This beautiful and moving song is a powerful weapon. We need to wake up to the cowardly inertia of our governments, to the greedy shortsightedness of business-as-usual, and to the numbing distractions of the media. This song woke me up. I hope it gets centuries of airtime.”
– Brian Eno, musician and producer
“It’s a beautiful song. It’s melodic. It’s ‘catchy’, it’s ’pop’, it’s ’sing-along’. It’s lovely, isn’t it…? No, it isn’t. It’s fucking horrific, terrifying and tragic. Listen to it, hear every desperate note, each lingering plea. Don’t just look at, see the pictures. Read the music, read the room, our planet’s youth in abject distress. This is their voice, their cry, their tears laid bare. So ask yourself: do you want this to be the ultimate anthem for doomed youth, a threnody for their funeral? It’s beautiful, beautiful for its razor sharp honesty, beautiful for its truth, beautiful for its purity of frightened heart. Please listen, please learn, please act”.
– Chris Packham, Naturalist and TV Broadcaster
ENDS
Contact “We Tried” singer & activist Louise Harris – Available for interview: 07725 190544, [email protected]
Song here. Video here. Photos & Screenshots here. Downloadable audio here.
Louise Harris’ new single “We Tried” becomes first ever climate song to reach UK iTunes No.1
