The latest Pink Floyd track, “Hey Hey Rise Up,” will see physical release on Ocober 21st. The single will be available in both CD and seven-inch vinyl versions. Both will feature the newly-reworked B-side, “A Great Day For Freedom,” which was originally featured on Floyd's 1994 The Divison Bell collection.
Rolling Stone reported, “David Gilmour reimagined the song using the original tapes, which feature Nick Mason on drums and the late Richard Wright on keyboards. Proceeds for the physical release and the ongoing digital sales will go to Ukraine humanitarian relief.”
Back in April, “Hey Hey Rise Up” was released digitally in support of the people of Ukraine, The track marked the band's first new music since The Division Bell and features Gilmour and Mason joined by long time bassist Guy Pratt and Nitin Sawhney on keyboards — along with a vocal performance by Andriy Khlyvnyuk of the Ukrainian band Boombox. The track, recorded on March 30th, 2022, uses Andriy’s vocals taken from his Instagram post (https://www.instagram.com/p/Cae5TydPAxh/) of him singing in Kyiv’s Sofiyskaya Square.
According to the original press release for “Hey Hey Rise Up”:
The song itself “The Red Viburnum In The Meadow” is a rousing Ukrainian protest song written during the first world war which has been taken up across the world over the past month in protest of the invasion of Ukraine. The title of the Pink Floyd track is taken from the last line of the song which translates as “Hey hey rise up and rejoice.”
Gilmour, who has a Ukrainian daughter-in-law and grandchildren said:
We, like so many, have been feeling the fury and the frustration of this vile act of an independent, peaceful democratic country being invaded and having its people murdered by one of the world's major powers.