Hollywood actor and singer, Patrick Bergin, has released a powerful video recording of Leonard Cohen’s iconic song, Anthem, with proceeds going to development aid agency Trócaire.
Bergin – known for his leading role opposite Julia Roberts in Sleeping with the Enemy and for playing the villainous Aidan Maguire in the BBC Soap Eastenders – first performed Anthem in front of an audience 80,000 in Croke Park during the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland in 2018.
He has now replicated the song in a moving audio and video recording with the award winning mixed-voice chamber choir, the Mornington Singers.
Inspired by the lyrics and sentiment of Anthem, Patrick says he believes the song and its powerful words can help raise funds and awareness for Trócaire, a charity he supports and admires.
It took Leonard Cohen a decade to compose Anthem, which has become a beacon of light for people all over the world during dark times. He first released it as part of his album The Future in 1992, but the lyrics are as relevant today as they were 30 years ago.
Said Patrick: “When making this video we attempted to capture my sense of the lyrics, in which both despair and hope are represented. That’s when the light gets in, so I think it’s an uplifting offering.”
He added: “The world has been through a traumatic two years due to the pandemic, which has had a devastating impact on developing countries where Trócaire works. This has been compounded by the effects of Climate Change. Due to Covid restrictions people have lost livelihoods and have not been able to feed their families. And unlike Ireland, where well over 90 per cent of the population are vaccinated, the vaccination levels in developing countries are alarmingly low.”
“As well as raising funds I hope people who download this video and audio will remember that no matter how bad things might seem at times, there are communities in our world who are much worse off and who need our support.”
The video was produced by award-winning producer Gerry McColgan, and his brother, co-founder of Riverdance John McColgan. Both brothers have been long standing supporters of Trócaire.
Trócaire is an overseas development agency which last year reached more than 2.7 million people in 20 countries in Africa, Asia, Central America and the Middle East.
Trócaire CEO, Caoimhe de Barra, said: “We are honoured that Patrick Bergin, along with long-time supporters of Trócaire John and Gerry McColgan, have produced this powerful version of the Leonard Cohen classic, Anthem. I hope that it will be a timely reminder to people who download it that, in the words of the song “There is a crack, a crack in everything, That’s how the light gets in.”
Anthem will premiere on hotpress.com at 12 noon, Friday March 25th, 2022.
Audio and video of Anthem are available to download online from March 26th, 2022.
For more information and for interview requests with Patrick Bergin contact:
Gerry McColgan
gerry.mccolgan@gmail.com
