Petula Clark responds to Nashville bomber playing ‘Downtown’ song. ‘Why this one?’

Singer Petula Clark responded Tuesday to reports that one of her songs played in an RV prior to it exploding in downtown Nashville on Christmas morning.

Clark’s 1964 hit song “Downtown” was heard by Nashville police officer James Luellen before the explosion that killed suspect Anthony Warner and damaged dozens of buildings, The Tennessean reported.

“What I remembered was ‘Downtown where the lights shined bright,’” Luellen said during a press conference Sunday.

It’s unclear why the song was being played. Investigators are working to determine a motive behind the bombing.

Clark, 88, is also curious why “Downtown” played a role in the bombing.

“I love Nashville,” the singer responded in a social media post Tuesday. “Of all the thousands of songs — why this one?”

“Downtown” was not inspired by Nashville, but rather the lights of New York City, according to CNN.

The song spent 15 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1964 and 1965 and peaked at No. 1. It’s found new life on the iTunes chart since the bombing, ranking as the 129th most popular song on the service as of Wednesday morning.

“Of course, the opening lyric is “When you’re alone and life is making you lonely you can always go Downtown,” she wrote on Facebook. “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.”

This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 9:57 AM.