Prince’s ‘Mary Don’t You Weep’ Gets Music Video Courtesy of Spike Lee and ‘BlacKkKlansman’

The newly released Prince tune “Mary Don’t You Weep” has been given the music video treatment courtesy of director Spike Lee and his acclaimed new film “BlacKkKlansman.”

Lee’s music video for the song (above) utilizes footage from his movie, based on the true story of an African-American police detective named Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. The film, which also co-stars past Stern Show guest Adam Driver, employs the rarely heard Prince tune during its closing credits, which follow a coda comprised of real-life footage of deadly violence carried out by white supremacists at a 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“Mary Don’t You Weep” is a spiritual that pre-dates the Civil War and has been recorded by numerous artists over the years, including late music icon Aretha Franklin. Prince reportedly recorded his version on a cassette tape in the mid-1980s and now it’s set to appear on the artist’s posthumous album “Piano & A Microphone 1983,” available in September.

“Mary Don’t You Weep” is the second Prince music video Spike has directed, following his 1992 single “Money Don’t Matter 2 Night.” In a recent interview, the director explained this latest collaboration came about after one of Prince’s estate advisors screened “BlacKkKlansman” and suggested that Spike use the song in the film. “My brother Prince wanted me to have that song. For this film,” Spike told Rolling Stone. “There’s no other explanation to me. This cassette is in the back of the vaults. In Paisley Park. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, it’s discovered? Nah-ah That ain’t an accident.”

“BlacKkKlansman” is in theaters now. Check out the trailer for the film here and watch the music video for Prince’s “Mary Don’t You Weep” (above).