Conspiracists will now say that the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is manipulating the diabolical corporate music labels. British DJ Fatboy Slim has sampled part of Thunberg’s speech — the one she pronounced at the UN summit on 23 September 2019— during a performance of his song Right Here, Right Now.
A brilliant mashup was quickly relayed by Fatboy Slim on his Facebook page, accompanied with images of the icecaps melting. On top of that, he went on to play the new mashup at a live show just yesterday.
Fatboy Slim released a remix of a two-decades-old club song that samples Greta Thunberg’s amazing United Nations speech. And it’s dope.
In this emotional speech, in which she has accused world leaders for their “betrayal” of the young generation through their inertia over the climate crisis, Greta Thunberg said: “The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us I say we will never forgive you. We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line.”
Fatboy Slim’s interplanetary clip matches strangely well with part of Thunberg’s speech. Right here, Right now, considered one of the best dance tracks of all time, was released two decades ago, in 1999. And it’s still relevant.
“People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money,” a partial quote, also features in Fatboy Slim’s mix, as does: “You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you.”
Is global warming the last necessary step in the protest song tradition? Surely. Grimes, Janelle Monae, Billie Eilish, The 1975 and more have all clearly understood this.
In the meantime, Fatboy Slim has announced his plans to tour Australia in January and February next year. He will kick off the tour in Melbourne on January 24, and then visit Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide before wrapping things up in Perth on February 2.
