Ukrainian punk band Beton have reimagined The Clash’s hit single London Calling as an “anthem” of “solidarity and hope” amid the Russian invasion.
The trio — Bohdan Hrynko, Oleg Hula and Andriy Zholob — recorded the new version, titled Kyiv Calling, on Thursday and Friday this week in a music studio in the city of Lviv.
The song features the lines “Come out of neutrality, you boys and girls” and criticises Russian president Vladimir Putin with the lyric: “Phony Putinmania has bitten the dust.”
A music video accompanying the song features footage from friends and family of the band, plus colleagues and volunteers, of Russian attacks taking place across Ukraine, from Kharkiv to Kyiv.
The track was mixed and mastered by producer Danny Saber, one of the last people to work with Joe Strummer, lead singer of The Clash before his death in 2002.
Proceeds from the song will go to the Free Ukraine Resistance Movement (FURM), a citizen-led network bringing together 30 non-governmental organisations from across the country.
Since the war began, guitarist and vocalist Zholob has been working as an orthopaedist doctor treating war victims and soldiers while drummer and vocalist Hrynko and bassist and vocalist Hula have joined the territorial defence force, and are prepared to take up arms when asked.
Zholob said: “Many Ukrainian musicians are now on battlefields or in territorial defence. This time they’ve changed guitars to guns.
Beton vocalist and guitarist
“We hope this song shows Ukrainians’ spirit and our defiance to Russian aggression. The Clash were one of our inspirations when we fell in love with punk rock and music in general, there is no snobbery or pretentiousness to the music, they had something to say and voiced their opinions against human anger.
“London Calling epitomises all of that and we are very happy to be able to take this iconic classic and turn it into our own anthem with new meaning and life.”
He said: “We are glad it is being played not just in Ukraine but around the world as a symbol of solidarity and hope. Our country will defend our hard-won liberty and protect our right to self-determination.
“We have no doubt about our victory, we are proud to be Ukrainians and feel support from musicians abroad. This means so much.”
Ostap Kryvdyk, international secretary of FURM, said: “FURM calls on the world to listen to the call from Kyiv. For us the music of the Clash is the music of freedom. We must stop the new iron curtain falling.
“London Calling was the call sign of the resistance of Britain when it stood alone against the Nazis.
“We want Kyiv Calling to be the symbol of resistance to the new aggressor in Europe. No surrender. No compromise peace.
“For Ukraine, peace is not just the absence of war. Peace is the unity of Ukraine. FURM thanks the Clash for their support in our darkest hour. Bring on the dawn.”
See the latest pictures from Ukraine:
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Firefighters put out a major blaze caused by Russian shelling at a food warehouse in Severodonetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk region. AFP -
Irina Zubchenko walks her dog Max amid the destruction caused by the shelling of a shopping center in Kyiv. AP -
Ukrainian refugee Masha, 6, plays at the border crossing in Budomierz, Poland. Reuters -
A charred Russian armoured personnel carrier on the front line in the Kyiv region. Reuters -
A volunteer takes position at a checkpoint in a district of Kyiv as Russian forces try to encircle the Ukrainian capital. AFP -
Residents of Kyiv retrieve belongings from their homes in a five-storey residential building that partially collapsed after shelling by Russian artillery. AFP -
Police officers in Moscow detain a woman as she protests against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. AFP -
A resident of the village of Krasylivka after Russian bombardment, part of Moscow's effort to move on Kyiv. AFP -
Tetiana Chornovol, a former Ukrainian MP, prepares to take position with an anti-tank missile on the front line in the Kyiv region. Reuters -
A rescue worker at a shopping mall in Kyiv after a Russian air strike. Reuters -
Ukrainian firefighters rescue a person buried beneath rubble after an explosion at a shopping centre in Kyiv. Reuters -
Ukrainian police officers stand near a warehouse that was hit by the debris of a downed rocket in Kyiv. AFP -
Graves are dug in a street in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters -
Pro-Russia militia fighters travel by tank to the outskirts of Mariupol. Reuters -
Milana, 6, who is recovering from leg wounds sustained when a Russian rocket hit her house on February 28, killing her mother, watches volunteers dressed as clowns at a children's hospital in Kyiv. Getty -
Tetyana and other residents wait in Kyiv, after being relocated from Irpin town. EPA -
Rescuers carry a Ukrainian soldier saved after 30 hours trapped in the wreckage of a military school hit by Russian rockets, in Mykolaiv. AFP -
A Ukrainian refugee arrives with her dog at the reception centre about three kilometres from the Moldova-Ukraine border. EPA -
Volunteers in Kyiv prepare packages with food and other goods for Ukrainian soldiers and civilians in cities across the country. EPA -
Residents walk between damaged residential buildings in Mariupol. Reuters -
Participants illuminate the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna with the lights of their smartphones, during the charity concert We Stand with Ukraine. AFP -
Yana Hladiychuk of Ukraine with a "Stop War" message on her face after the women's pole vault, on the second day of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade. Getty -
An Ukrainian girl in tears after crossing the border in Siret, northern Romania. AFP -
A satellite image shows the aftermath of the Russian air strike on the Mariupol Drama Theatre. EPA/Maxar Technologies -
A woman takes cover in a military trench as a Russian jet fighter flies overhead, near the military school hit by Russian rockets the day before, in Mykolaiv. AFP -
A man walks amid debris in front of a Kyiv residential apartment complex that was heavily damaged by a Russian attack on March 18. Getty -
Residents carry water from a food warehouse, which is under the control of the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic, on the outskirts of Mariupol. AP -
Rescuers work at the site of the National Academy of State Administration building damaged by shelling in Kharkiv. AP -
A satellite image shows artillery strikes and burning fields in Chernihiv. AP / Maxar Technologies -
A resident assesses her damaged flat in Mariupol. Reuters -
Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko keeps people away from a five-storey residential building that partially collapsed after shelling on March 18. AFP -
Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses crowds at a concert in Moscow to mark the eighth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea. AP -
Ukrainian policemen secure a residential area in Kyiv. Sergei Supinsky -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. AP -
A cloud of smoke rises after an explosion in Lviv, western Ukraine, on March 18. AP -
Zinaida Pivtsova, 75, who fled the war in Ukraine, takes shelter in a sports stadium in Przemysl, south-east Poland. AP -
A police officer at abandoned residential buildings in Kyiv. AP -
Inside a shell-damaged school in Kyiv. AP -
A woman cries before starting to clean the site where a bomb damaged residential buildings in Kyiv. AP Photo / Rodrigo Abd -
A woman from Ukraine sits in a car with her children as a volunteer takes them to a hostel in Budapest, Hungary. AP -
An abandoned flat in Kyiv. AP -
A man removes a curtain inside a school in Kyiv. AP -
A worker sets up a billboard with the colours of the Ukrainian flag in Novoiavorisk, near Lviv. AP -
Olga plays with her daughter Vedeneya in an empty park in Kyiv. AP
