Dying mother's song soars up charts

If it succeeds, it would be a bizarre coup for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport which funded the initiative that spawned the unlikely hit.

The Rosetta Requiem, part of Culture Online, gives hospice users the chance to celebrate their lives in music and leave something for their loved ones.

Maxine Edgington, 47, wrote the lyrics for "We Laughed" after Billy Bragg, the singer-songwriter, held a workshop at the hospice she attends in Weymouth.

He put it to music and brought together a bunch of musicians to record it for the Culture Online website.

But after Maxine Edgington demanded to know what more could be done with the song which moved everyone who heard it, Bragg contacted Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show.

After he and Ms Edgington appeared on the programme, it became the most requested track and was released as a single on Monday.

Sales have risen daily, currently placing it at about number 16 in the charts and bookmakers William Hill have made it a 12-1 shot for the Christmas top slot.