"Divine Sorrow" is a song by

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

an hip hop recording artist

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( ; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Haiti, Jean emigrated to the Northeastern United States, United States as a child. He gained fame as a founding member of the Fugees, a Ne ...

from his EP ''

J'ouvert J'ouvert ( ) (also Jour ouvert, Jouvay, or Jouvé) is a traditional Carnival celebration in many countries throughout the Caribbean. The parade is believed to have its foundation in Trinidad & Tobago, with roots steeped in French Afro-Creole t ...

''. Credited with the mononym Wyclef on the official cover of the single, it also features Swedish DJ and producer

Avicii Tim Bergling (8 September 1989 – 20 April 2018), known professionally as Avicii, was a Swedish DJ, remixer, and record producer. At age 16, he began posting his remixes on electronic music forums, which led to his first record deal. He rose ...

. The song was released as the lead single from the album on 17 November 2014. It was written by

Magnus Lidehäll Magnus Lidehäll is a Swedish award-winning producer, composer, and songwriter. He works closely with the songwriting duo Vargas & Lagola – with whom he won the composer of the year award at the Swedish Grammy Awards in 2014. Together they hav ...

Salem Al Fakir Lars Salem Al Fakir (; born 27 October 1981) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He regularly collaborates with Vincent Pontare as the songwriting and production duo Vargas and Lagola. Together, they have worked with ma ...

, and

Vincent Pontare Fred Vincent Pontare (born 13 May 1980) is a Swedish songwriter, producer, and singer. He is also known by the mononym Vincent. He regularly collaborates with Salem Al Fakir as songwriting, producer, and duo Vargas & Lagola. Together, they have ...

Background

Wyclef Jean recorded the song with Avicii in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden in the winter of 2013. The song was released on 17 November 2014, as part of the campaign "Share the Sound of an AIDS-Free Generation" by Product Red project, a licensed brand that seeks to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds to help fight the spread of

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

in Africa. This specific song was commissioned through

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

^{RED

Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...}. Proceeds from the song benefited the

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (or simply the Global Fund) is an international financing and partnership organization that aims to "attract, leverage and invest additional resources to end the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tu ...

. Wyclef Jean said of the song, "The whole idea with the song is, it's a celebration song. No matter what you're going through today, you're going to overcome it tomorrow."

Music video

A colorful lyric video was released on November 17, 2014, with the color red prominently featured in the video to symbolize the RED campaign. The video displays a cream-colored background, over which clouds of red and light-gray liquid slowly fill the screen, while the song's lyrics appear overlaid. A second lyric video was released on July 10, 2015. In this video, the Greek visual artist INO, along with several other people, including children and Wyclef Jean himself, paints the lyrics of the song on a wall. The concept is quite similar to the music video for Avicii's " The Days."

Chart performance

"Divine Sorrow" debuted at number 12 on ''Billboard'''s

Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (formerly Dance/Electronic Songs) is a record chart has been published weekly by ''Billboard'' since January 2013. It is their first chart to be published that ranks the most popular dance and electronic songs according ...

chart, becoming Avicii's 13th single on the chart. The song also debuted at number 3 on the

Dance/Electronic Digital Songs The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart, selling 29,000 copies in its first week.

Track listing

Digital download #"Divine Sorrow" (featuring Avicii) – 4:38 Digital download – Klingande Remix #"Divine Sorrow" (featuring Avicii; Klingande Remix) – 4:28 Digital download – Remix Pack 1 #"Divine Sorrow" (featuring Avicii; extended) – 8:29 #"Divine Sorrow" (featuring Avicii;

GoldFish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of the order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the w ...

remix) – 8:28 #"Divine Sorrow" (featuring Avicii; NightRider remix) – 4:41

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Days Avicii songs Wyclef Jean songs 2014 songs Songs written by Vincent Pontare 2014 singles