Prince video for 'Mary Don't You Weep' tackles gun violence and its impact on youth in America - watch
'The system is broken. It’s going to take the young people to fix it this time. We need new ideas, new life…'
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Your support makes all the difference.A new album featuring a previously unreleased recording of Prince performing solo at his piano in 1983 has been released on streaming services and in physical formats.
Piano & A Microphone 1983 is a nine track record that offers in intimate look at the late musical genius, as he performs songs such as "Purple Rain", "International Lover" and a cover of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You". His song "Mary Don't You Weep", which recently featured during the end credits of Spike Lee's film BlacKKKlansman, also appears on the album.
Prince's estate has also shared a moving video for "Mary Don't You Weep", which "tackles gun violence and its impact on youth in America". It is the first original Prince video to be released posthumously, and was directed by Salomon Ligthelm via Stink Films with New York City as its backdrop.
A statement reads: "The video pays tribute to the nearly 1,300 children that die and 5,790 that are treated for gunshot wounds each year in the United States along. It puts the effect of what happens when a mother and a community lose a son under the microscope, exploring the agony, the resolve and ultimately hope for change."
It goes on to explain how the video links back to Prince's work in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray and the riots that followed. In response to Gray's death, Prince released the song "Baltimore" and a video that centred on his wish for more compassion and peace.
At the end of the video for "Baltimore" Prince's powerful quote from his 2015 Rally 4 Peace is heard: "The system is broken. It's going to take young people to fix it. We need new ideas, new life." That same quote is heard at the beginning of "Mary Don't You Weep".
Piano & A Microphone, the nine track album by Prince, is out now via NPG Records / Warner Bros
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