Royal British Legion
If NewsFeed truly wanted to be snarky, this blog post would have been blank.
But instead we bring news of a “song” that could very well be a chart topper in the U.K. this Sunday. The charity single, “2 Minute Silence,” out today as a download, is in support of the Royal British Legion — Remembrance Sunday is November 14 this year — with organizers hoping that the track’s hook (if you will) of there being no music or speaking will be sufficiently quirky to make it one of the most extraordinary number ones of all time. A two minute silence is observed at 11.00am (6.00am ET) every Remembrance Sunday. (See pictures of World War I.)
While the song is silent, the accompanying video is packed with star names, including the likes of British Prime Minister David Cameron, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, tennis player Andy Murray and British actors Bob Hoskins and David Tennant. (See a TIME video with David Cameron.)
The Royal British Legion’s director general, Chris Simpkins, told the Daily Telegraph why he believes sound won’t be missed. “Rather than record a song, we felt the U.K. public would recognise the poignancy of silence and its clear association with remembrance.”
Believe it or not, silent songs are nothing new. In the 1950s, the composer John Cage created “4’33,” which was four minutes and 33 seconds of peace and quiet. And incredibly, the U.K. might have two silent hits on its hands for an online movement has once again begun to try and stop Simon Cowell’s X Factor from getting the Christmas number one by re-releasing “4’33.” Thanks to last year’s Facebook campaign, Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing In The Name” kept the X Factor winner off the top and if you’ve heard some of this season’s contestants, you may well prefer silence to screeching.