Lullaby, a deeply moving song by Palestinian singer Nai Barghouti, has reached number 5 in the official UK singles chart for Christmas, raising more than £70,000 for Palestinian charities and making it the highest-charting Arabic song in British chart history.

The song is a re-imagining of the traditional Palestinian lullaby Yamma Mweel El Hawa, which means ‘Mama, sing to the wind’, with English lyrics by Peter Gabriel, main vocals by Barghoutiand Lana Lubany, with support from Yemeni star Amena and an array of West Asian and western stars, including Leigh-Anne, Brian Eno, Neneh Cherry, Celeste. As part of its main refrain, the song asks “Is it better to die in freedom than a captive life in chains?” The official video for the song is both spirit-lifting and heartbreaking, featuring Palestinian people against the backdrop of the devastation of Gaza caused by the genocidal Israeli occupation:

Lullaby: beaten by Kylie

The song lost out on the number one spot to the ‘imaginatively’ titled Xmas by Kylie Minogue, with Wham’s 1980s staple Last Christmas, which almost won its third Christmas number one in a row – a demonstration of just how little some people really understand Christmas and the Palestinian story of hope and sacrifice it is meant to commemorate.

But despite narrowly missing out on number one, the song raised tens of thousands of pounds for ‘Together for Palestine’. Leigh-Anne’s management firm said on X that:

Together for Palestine’s ‘LULLABY’ featuring Leigh-Anne raised over £70,000 this week for Palestinian organisations. It is the highest-peaking Arabic song in UK chart history.

Eno said that for him and others who worked on it, the project was an “act of love for Palestine’s children”:

after a year defined by unimaginable loss, grief and injustice, we want to end with an act of love for Palestine’s children.” ‘Lullaby’ thus reflects “their beauty, their longing and their hope…

…[It will] send a strong message of hope to the children in Gaza, that we in the UK keep them in our hearts and will not let their cause be pushed out of our political focus

Lullaby was originally intended for Together for Palestine’s live Wembley concert, but schedule overruns meant that it was not performed. As Songlines explained:

Around [Barghouti], the ensemble formed almost instinctively, artists drawn to the project’s purpose just as much as its music. Rehearsals unfolded in fragments between Zoom calls and sessions in Brunt’s London Church studio. Celeste joined at the last minute, running through her solo during her soundcheck just a day before the show. The group only came fully together the day prior, practising in a school gym near Wembley, where, for the first time, the gospel choir, soloists and ensemble heard the piece. Brunt remembers the atmosphere as “magical”.

But the night of the event took an unexpected turn. As the schedule tightened, their performance was cut at the last moment. Wearing their in-ear monitors, the ensemble took in the emotional intensity of the performances before them, trying to process the sudden disappointment. By morning, however, the mission reasserted itself. By 2pm that day, Brunt and Barghouti were in the studio, recording what would become the released version of ‘Lullaby’. Along the way, musicians including Bastille’s Dan Smith, Benji B, Lana Lubany, Leigh-Anne, London Community Gospel Choir, Mabel, Nadine Shah, Neneh Cherry, Sura Abdo, TYSON, Yasmeen Ayyashi and Ysee all joined the project.

Buy or listen to the song here.

Featured image via the Canary

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