Photo by Eric Tra
Chris Cornell is no stranger to the big screen, having provided music for films such as 12 Years a Slave and Casino Royale. Now, the Soundgarden frontman has helmed a new song for The Promise, a new drama about the Armenian genocide starring Christian Bale.
Cornell’s contribution, also titled “The Promise”, is a sobering and orchestral offering that delicately echoes the atrocities of those times. “There are a couple of really amazing documentaries about the Armenian genocide, and one of them was about the phenomenon that people who had literally minutes to grab what they could from their homes would take photos before anything else – before jewelry even,” he explained to Rolling Stone. “I was really moved by that; the idea of what is most important to people in a crucial second.”
“If I had nothing to my name/ But photographs of you/ Rescued from the flames/ That’ is all I would ever need,” Cornell can be heard singing in the track’s opening verse. All proceeds from the song will benefit the International Rescue Committee, which works to respond to humanitarian crises around the world.
Stream “The Promise” below via its lyric video.
The Promise, which also stars Oscar Isaac and Shohreh Aghdashloo, opens in theaters on April 21st. Watch the latest trailer below.
