Tck Tck Tck believes time is running out, so click now!
Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, is working with the Global Humanitarian Forum and music industry allies on a global campaign to increase public involvement in the fight against global warming. The team launched an initiative today (October 1) titled “Tck Tck Tck: Time for Climate Justice,” that calls for a fair and binding, global post-Kyoto deal at the U.N.'s Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December.
And it all starts with a song, which you can have for free. Back in June, Annan, Bob Geldof (veteran of the Live Aid initiative) and David Jones (global CEO of Havas Worldwide) announced that they were partnering with record label The:Hours to produce a song for this movement - an international all-star cover of the Midnight Oil hit, "Beds Are Burning.” Among the dozens of featured voices in the song – and faces in the video – are Youssou N'Dour, Milla Jovovich, Mark Ronson, Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon, Fergie, Amadou et Mariam, Serena Ryder, Will Lee, Marion Cotillard and members of The All-American Rejects, Barenaked Ladies and the Scorpions. And, given appearances by both Annan and Desmond Tutu, this may well be the first pop music video to feature two Nobel Peace Prize winners. Here's a tease...
The new song became available as a free download today; every download counts as a unique digital petition “signature” to remind world leaders that global warming is an issue of concern to music fans and the general public.
This "Beds Are Burning" is quite different from Midnight Oil’s 1987 original (from their "Diesel and Dust" album). For one thing, the members of Midnight Oil agreed to change the lyrics somewhat to better suit the Tck Tck Tck cause. Given the need to blend so many voices into one track, the new version doesn’t have Oil lead singer Peter Garrett’s fierce energy and, of course, the Tck Tck Tck initiative promotes a different cause. The original song was an unabashed protest song, urging the Western world to return land to Native Australians. The new one is more pleading, but there’s a similar sentiment in that both urge listeners to demand justice from industrial and government decision makers.
A visit to the Tck Tck Tck site offers a plethora of background materials and a helpful “tool kit” of images and sounds that supporters can use on web sites and social media pages. But for today, the organizers just want as many people as possible to download the track (available on all major digital platforms) and stream the video.
Besides the official music video version of “Beds Are Burning,” the site also offers a variety of supporting clips, and participants are encouraged to make and add their own to the site.
In a press statement, an organization spokesperson said, “It might not seem like a big deal, but the more people we can prove are aware, the more our leaders will know the world is watching…With just one click, your 'digital petition' will confirm your support; it's our one and only chance to begin to preserve our planet.”
BTW, in an effort to walk the walk like they talk the talk, the Tck Tck Tck team says that it will offset the entire carbon footprint related to the campaign by planting trees in the Amazon rain forest. (The:Hours started this program last year in partnership with Pure Project.)
For more info: www.timeforclimatejustice.org
Comments
Thanks Marianne, I prefer the term climate change, because the effects are more wide reaching than just the increase in global temperatures, I'll put my plug in for "Playing for Change", another socially sensitive project.
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