Time for some action
It’s a grey, overcast November afternoon in Shanghai – mercifully without any sign of the city’s infamous smog – and Pharrell Williams is in the process of describing 100 Years – The Song We’ll Only Hear If We Care. “It’s super-sarcastic. I wanted to do something that was a bit different. I feel like call-to-action songs are usually very boring. You only listen to them once,” says the Grammy Award-winning superstar. “Here, I’m trolling all the pseudo-scientists who don’t care about the ecosystem. I don’t get it, you know: 106-degree (42 degree Celsius) weather in October in Los Angeles is crazy to me. If they don’t believe in anything, why shouldn’t I fight fire with fire?”
For all of us in the world apart from 100 people, we’ll have to rely on Williams’ words, as we’ll never hear his new song in our lifetimes. Created in partnership with Louis XIII Cognac, 100 Years is the creative expression of a startling and innovative project that stems from both Williams’ and Louis XIII’s dedication to addressing environmental issues. Playing on the cognac house’s reputation for always thinking a century ahead, the original musical composition will only be released in 2117 – provided, of course, that rising sea levels haven’t already made it impossible to do so.
This evening, the song – which has been recorded onto a clay record fashioned from the chalky soil of Cognac – will be played once before it’s locked in a bulletproof Fichet-Bauche safe that’s vulnerable only when submerged in water. With the alarming rise in sea levels, which scientists have predicted will result in a significant portion of the world’s land mass disappearing underwater within a century, the threat of destruction is credible. Even the record’s hiding place in the cellars of Louis XIII is no guarantee of its safety – the tragic consequences of global warming are wide and far-reaching.
“There needs to be some sense of preservation here,” Williams notes. “When you think about the dramatic effects that our current decision-making could lead to in the future, we’ve got to get involved. I felt it was incredibly admirable that Louis XIII and the House of Remy Martin cared enough about their own process, knowing that they need human beings to be alive so they can continue their traditions. It’s more than a business for them – it’s a lifestyle and a culture. And the last time we all checked, cultural existence requires human beings.”
“We live from the terroir – it’s our most precious asset,” asserts Eric Vallat, CEO of the House of Remy Martin, echoing Williams’ remarks. “It makes you feel very humble because you don’t master nature. I know for sure the world is changing very rapidly: what we’ve seen over the past two years is an acceleration of dramatic climatic events, like hail in July or frost very late in the season. It’s our responsibility to transmit the terroir to the next generation and what applies to Louis XIII applies to us globally – that’s why we felt there was an interesting parallel.”
Williams, adds Louis XIII’s global executive director Ludovic du Plessis, is the perfect artist to reflect that parallel. “He’s one of the most talented music artists of his generation, no doubt about that. He seriously cares about climate change and he really, really understands what Louis XIII stands for.” In the Academy Award-nominated musician’s hands, 100 Years becomes a symbol of what’s at stake when it comes to global warming – it’s not just land we’ll lose, but history, culture, art and people.
As one of the 100 lucky guests to be granted the privilege of hearing the song at a private listening party at the 1933 Contemporary gallery, I find myself wondering what today’s climate change deniers would think of 100 Years. It’s folksy and heavy on the sarcasm by turns, before sliding into a darker, more aggressive second half with a punchy bass and electronic synths. “My message on a postcard to them,” as Williams puts it. Now, though, it’s a secret for the next century, or possibly forever if we don’t care enough about joining the international effort to curb global warming. Let’s hope we’re standing and toasting to a better world – with a glass of Louis XIII in hand – when that safe opens.
