Lily Allen unveils haunting Rufus Wainwright cover at anti-Trump protest

February 8, 2017
Issue 
Lily Allen performing at the London Women's march on January 21.

English singer Lily Allen unveiled a haunting cover of Rufus Wainwright's 2007 song “Going to a Town” along with a stark video of her performance of the track at the Women's March against Donald Trump in London on January 21, Rolling Stone said.

The article said the song features a stirring musical arrangement by Mark Ronson, who places a tangle of elegiac strings beneath Allen's aching vocals. “You took advantage of a world that loved you well/I’m going to a town that has already been burnt down/ I’m so tired of you, America,” Allen sings.

Allen filmed a video to accompany the cover at London’s Women’s March, in which more than 100,000 people protested Trump’s reactionary agenda. Rolling Stone said: “Her performance is combined with shots of protestors, and towards the end of the song, their chants rise up in the mix, serving as a striking sort-of percussion as the song comes to a close.”

The Women’s March drew millions of protesters around the globe on January 21, the day after Trump's inauguration. Rolling Stone noted that many musicians took part in the marches and similar events, including Janelle Monae, Alicia Keys, Madonna Katy Perry, Cher, Sleater-Kinney, the National, Kim Gordon and more.

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