On Monday 18 December, 2023, a project combining the efforts of a homeless film director, a London band and rap royalty Snoop Dogg to help end homelessness in the UK was given a Papal Blessing from Pope Francis.
David Fussell, who is homeless, met London musicians Ooberfuse at a Homeless Restaurant in Oxford Street and, after a few jamming sessions, the song ‘Hard Times’ was born. The searching lyrics tell the story of homelessness from the perspective of the homeless person, depicting the real pain of ‘shivering in the cold and the rain’.
Commenting on the song, Fussell said: “The story is not told from an on-looker’s perspective like the great Phil Collins song Another Day in Paradise. Rather, Hard Times tells the story in the first person, drawing on real pain ‘shivering in the cold and the rain’. It makes it clear that being made homeless could happen to anyone of us.”
The Holy Father, Pope Francis, expressed his support for the endeavour, emphasising “the importance of caring for the most vulnerable in society” and urging “to build a more fraternal world.”
Twice a week, volunteers from Central London Catholic Churches trolley donated food from local Mayfair eateries to the tables of London’s rough sleepers in Farm Street’s Arrupe Hall. Ooberfuse’s musician, Hal, commented on the project, saying: “The guy who runs the project, Dominic Robinson is like a modern day Robin Hood! He literally goes to the swankiest restaurants in Mayfair and takes food destined for the sophisticated palettes of the super-wealthy and puts it on the tables of the homeless in Arrupe Hall. It’s next level wealth-redistribution!”
The song ‘Hard Times’, featuring Snoop Dogg, can be found on Youtube.
