The Prince Estate Reveals Powerful New Video For 'Mary Don’t You Weep'
The Salomon Ligthelm-directed, posthumous video for the artist tackles gun violence and its impact on the youth of America
Directed by Salomon Ligthelm, through Stink, 'Mary Don’t You Weep' has been released to coincide with today's launch of the new Prince album Piano & A Microphone 1983, and pays tribute to the scores of teens and children affected by gun-related violence every year in the USA .
A haunting portrait of grief, the beautifully crafted film, shot in New York, perfectly aligns with the pain inherent in the song, as it follows a mother’s pain in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of her young son.
A rare recording of a 19th Century spiritual, the song features Prince singing, “peace is more than the absence of war… We’re tired of cryin’ and people dyin’, let’s take all the guns away”. An emotive tribute to the nearly 1,300 children that die and 5,790 injured by gunshot wounds each year in the US, the film continues the pop legend’s past peace activism, such as the Rally 4 Peace concert he hosted in Baltimore in 2015.
The new Warner Bros album features previously unreleased home studio cassette recording of Prince solo at his piano in 1983.