'Time to rebel': Greta Thunberg adds voice to new song by the 1975

(The Guardian, 25 Jul 2019) On band’s latest single, 16-year-old activist urges young people to act on climate emergency.

Greta Thunberg has made her musical debut on a single by the 1975. On a track called The 1975, a version of which traditionally opens each of the British band’s albums, the 16-year-old environmental activist restates her position on the need to act on the climate emergency.

Thunberg said: “I’m grateful to get the opportunity to get my message out to a broad new audience in a new way. I think it’s great that the 1975 is so strongly engaged in the climate crisis. We quickly need to get people in all branches of society to get involved. And this collaboration I think is something new.”

Over the 1975’s minimal orchestral backing, Thunberg says: “We have to acknowledge that the older generations have failed. All political movements in their present form have failed. But homo sapiens have not yet failed. Yes, we are failing, but there is still time to turn everything around.”

She continues: “We are facing a disaster of unspoken sufferings for enormous amounts of people. And now is not the time for speaking politely or focusing on what we can or cannot say. Now is the time to speak clearly.”

Thunberg concludes: “So, everyone out there, it is now time for civil disobedience. It is time to rebel.” Read the full text of her speech below.

External link

The Guardian, 25 Jul 2019: 'Time to rebel': Greta Thunberg adds voice to new song by the 1975