Famed British singer Petula Clark said she feels "shock and disbelief" that her timeless hit "Downtown" was played by a bomber just before his Recreational vehicle exploded in Nashville, Tennessee, on Christmas Day.
"I feel the need to express my shock and disbelief at the Christmas Day explosion in our beloved Music City. I love Nashville and its people. Why this violent act — leaving behind it such devastation?" Clark wrote on her Facebook page Tuesday.
"A few hours later — I was told that the music in the background of that strange announcement — was me — singing 'Downtown'! Of all the thousands of songs — why this one?"
The suicide bomber, Anthony Quinn Warner, 63, an IT worker from nearby Antioch, died in the blast, which injured several people and damaged dozens of buildings in Nashville's historic downtown district.
Warner's RV blared a warning that a bomb would detonate in 15 minutes and then switched to a recording of Clark's famed 1964 tune "Downtown" before the blast.
Clark said the song should be associated with joy and celebration.
"Of course, the opening lyric is 'When you're alone and life is making you lonely you can always go Downtown,'" she wrote. "But millions of people all over the world have been uplifted by this joyful song. Perhaps you can read something else into these words — depending on your state of mind. It's possible."
She voiced her support for Nashville and used an old British catch phrase for keeping calm under pressure.
"I would like to wrap my arms around Nashville — give you all a hug — and wish you Love, a Happy and Healthy New Year — and, as we sometimes say in the U.K., steady the Buffs! (Look it up!)," Clark wrote.
Clark, 88, won a Grammy in 1964 for Best Rock & Roll Recording for "Downtown." The song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart on Jan. 23, 1965.
