After two years that have been marked by footage of relentless despair and destruction in Gaza – families displaced, hospitals demolished, entire neighbourhoods reduced to dust – a sense of helplessness has weighed heavily on hearts across the world. Out of precisely that ache, Together 4 Palestine was formed: a collective of musicians, writers, performers and other cultural figures headed up by Brian Eno.
They came together for a one-off concert in September, which sold out in less than 72 hours and saw more than 15,000 people filling the seats at Wembley Arena. Speakers and performers included the likes of Louis Theroux, Amelia Dimoldenberg, Nicola Coughlan, Cat Burns, Rachel Chinouriri, Paloma Faith and Sampha. The energy inside the room – and the near £2 million raised for Palestinian-led relief organisations – made it clear the project would not end at Wembley.
Which brings us to “Lullaby”, an original composition from a glittering ensemble of music industry titans that’s now in the running to be Christmas Number One. Neneh Cherry, her daughters Mabel and Tyson, Nai Barghouti, Amena, Celeste, Dan Smith, Kieran Brunt, Lana Lubany, Leigh-Anne, the London Community Gospel Choir, Nadine Shah, Sura Abdo, Yasmeen Ayyashi, Ysee, and more appear on the track. The song is beautiful, haunting, and incorporates a famous Palestinian folk song – “Yamma Mwel El Hawa” – with lyrics that are a “strong confirmation of what it means to be Palestinian”, says Barghouti. “That is, a never-ending sense of resilience, defiance, beauty, dignity and hope.”
Barghouti, whose maqamat vocals are the focal point of the song, is hoping that “Lullaby” will top the charts this Christmas. “It would be a small beam of light in such darkness,” she says. “We all have a responsibility to continue our work for Palestine.”
It was Mabel who first encouraged her mother, Neneh Cherry, and her sister, fellow singer Tyson, to get involved with the project and the recording of the song. “I just thought, ‘We should do this together as a family, because it’s a lullaby,’” she says. The initial plan was for the group to perform the track at the end of the Wembley concert, but logistics ultimately got in the way. It hardly mattered: the energy in the rehearsal room in the days leading up to the gig was palpable. “We were all in tears,” says Neneh. “I mean, obviously [me and my daughters] hummed together randomly, but we’ve never sung together like that.” The atmosphere was “momumental”, she says. “To be able to do something and contribute to something we are all so affected by… I mean, quite often I feel like we just sit around feeling very helpless, right?”
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The ensemble got together the day after the concert to actually record the song. “We had to put that energy somewhere,” says Tyson, who struggled to keep it together in rehearsals, despite being determined not to break down in front of her fellow artists who were Palestinian, and had witnessed atrocities firsthand. “As soon as I heard Nai’s voice, I just couldn’t not cry,” she says. “It’s been a long time of knowing this is happening in the world, going to protests, posting stuff and talking to people,” Tyson continues. “Something just happened when we were all in that room. It was so beautiful and moving, and our voices cut through for the first time.” Her sister Mabel concurs. “It’s not our story, but it should be everybody’s pain to carry,” she says. “It’s been free Palestine for a long time.”