Gotye Donates Song to 40 Hour Famine Campaign

Gotye has donated the use of his song 'Eyes Wide Open' to this year's 40 Hour Famine campaign, the annual World Vision effort organized to raise funds to help prevent world hunger.

Scheduled for the weekend of August 17-19, the 2012 40 Hour Famine effort will mark the campaign's 37th year, and it will look to build upon the millions of dollars already raised by what has grown into New Zealand's largest youth fundraiser.

Participants in the drive raise money by agreeing to give up something they love -- usually food -- for 40 hours, and asking people to donate in support. Gotye has made a fairly significant donation of his own, allowing the organizers to use 'Eyes Wide Open' in the ad for this year's campaign. It's easy to understand why they were interested in this particular track -- with lyrics like "This dust is all that's left of us / And only a few ever worried" and "The saddest thing / Is all of it could have been avoided," it provides a suitably sobering soundtrack for the clip.

World Vision is offering a number of other incentives to attract involvement in 40 Hour Famine, including a chance to win a new iPad and a family trip to Bali. You can check out the 40 Hour Famine site here, and watch the commercial embedded below:

Watch the 40 Hour Famine 2012: Eyes Wide Open Commercial