SHout’s recently-released campaign song, also named Shout, has attracted plenty of positive attention. Singer Nick Morales tells Jo Caruana why he is proud to use music as a method for empowering people and change.

Campaign songs are a genre in their own right. Used for everything from presidential rallies to activist crusades, they have a job to do and awareness to raise.

Some of the most memorable campaign songs ever include the likes of ex-American President Bill Clinton’s use of Fleetwood Mac’s Don’t Stop in the run up to his win in 1997 and Barack Obama’s choice of We Take Care of Our Own by Bruce Springsteen following his acceptance speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

On the flip side, though, there have been some less successful choices – among them Saddam Hussein’s use of Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You, Silvio Berlusconi’s original tune Thank Goodness for Silvio and Angela Merkel’s Rolling Stones’ break-up song, Angie.

Now, though, there is a new campaign song on the block and it is doing its bit to help rouse No voters ahead of Saturday’s Spring Hunting referendum.

Nick Morales performing during a SHout event. Photo: Stefan Ciantar

Chosen by SHout, which is running the No campaign, the song was originally released by band Tears for Fears in 1984 and it perfectly fits the message that these activists are putting across.

“The lyrics are very relevant and we only edited them slightly in our version,” says singer Nick Morales, who fronts the popular band nosnow/noalps.

“It is all about encouraging people to take a stand for what they believe in, and to literally shout about it to encourage others to do the same.”

In fact, to quote an interview by Tears for Fears’ founding member Roland Orzabal, “this song was written in political protest.

Morales says that he feels very strongly about encouraging people to vote no and that he was thus thrilled to be asked to contribute to the recording of Shout.

“I was raised vegetarian and have been anti-hunting since I was young,” he says.

“I lived in Marsaxlokk at the time and was very exposed to the realities of the issue and it made me angry. I am against the killing of any animals, but I find spring hunting particularly barbaric, as it doesn’t even allow these beautiful birds to breed.”

We must stand up to highlight that what is wrong is wrong. Yes, it may be tradition, but that doesn’t make it right

In his teens, Morales also spent time in the countryside with Birdlife and the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS), learning more about the huge variety of bird species that visit our islands and the damage that hunting has done to their sustainability.

“It really saddened me. How can you kill a bird – sometimes an endangered bird – before it has even reached mating age and been given the chance to breed?” he asks.

So Morales joined other artists, including DJ and singer Gianni Zammit, Beangrowers vocalist Alison Galea and nosnow/noalps drummer Benji Cachia, in recording the song and getting it out into the public eye.

The video was seen by over 11,500 people in its first week online alone.

“I am proud to be among the activists standing up to stop spring hunting,” says the singer.

“There is a fantastic group of people spearheading this – TV personalities, presenters, writers, musicians, activists and business people. I hope that, by putting themselves in the limelight to demonstrate what they believe in, they will encourage others to vote ‘no’ on Saturday.”

Morales also believes that the SHout campaign clearly highlights what can be achieved when people get together to achieve change – and that that is one of its most important messages.

“If we win, this referendum will really highlight the power of the people,” he says.

“This referendum is all about people, in fact. We’re sick of politicians trying to get votes; we want them to listen to us and make change happen. Other individuals shouldn’t be afraid to say how they feel; a scared mentality will get us nowhere.

“We must stand up to highlight that what is wrong is wrong. Yes, it may be tradition, but that doesn’t make it right. The mere fact that this referendum is taking place shows that the public does want change. Now we just need to go out to seal the deal,” Morales says.

Vote no on Saturday.