British signer Petula Clark expressed dismay and disappointment after her song “Downtown” could be heard from the alleged Nashville bomber’s explosive-filled vehicle, moments before the tragic incident on Friday.
“I was told that the music on the background of the strange announcement was me singing ‘Downtown,'” Clark said in a statement on Facebook. “Of all the thousands of songs – why this one?”
In surveillance videos depicting the moment of the bomb blast, Clark’s pop number plays under an evacuation warning. The singer, whose number apparently recorded the suspected attacker’s crime, also expressed ‘shock and disbelief’ about the explosion in the city center of the music mecca. She also said that many listeners found joy and much-needed comfort in her national anthem, but noted that “you can read something else in these words – depending on your state of mind.”
The singer concluded her statement with words of comfort and sympathy to Nashville residents and those shaken by the event.
“I would like to wrap my arms around Nashville – give everyone a hug – and wish you love, a happy and healthy new year – and, as we sometimes say in the UK, the Buff!”, She wrote.
Clark’s “Downtown”, composed by Tony Hatch, debuted in 1964 and climbed the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart.
See her full statement below.