Songs for the Pandemic

We need good music right now. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we will all feel angry, sad, anxious, excited, and occasionally happy, and listening to music will help us express all those feelings and get through. During this time of isolation especially, I have been enjoying music for hours on end. There is not much else to do when you’re trapped inside for several weeks (let's be honest, feels like months) – so, might as well put some headphones in and dance around your room like an idiot! Some new music has been released recently that you might have missed, and I thought that I would highlight a few songs that I like.

Let me start with a new Jessie Reyez song, ‘I Do’, from her just-released album Before Love Came to Kill Us. She plays with a lot of death-symbols in her lyrics this time around. I love Jessie’s unique voice and the vibe of ‘I Do’. It’s slightly upbeat, but sad at the same time. She sings about a man she loves and asks him if he feels as though he failed to express everything to her that he would like to say, since she has held some things back. The music video features a funeral, perhaps the symbolic death of the relationship. Neither of them can say what they want or open up about the unspoken words that have burdened them both since they broke up. 

The song is beautiful and the emotion comes through – ‘I Do’ does not feel like a typical love song, and I like that. Jessie sings about such a specific, personal experience and illustrates how we might feel after someone we love is no longer a part of our life. Here is the video …

‘Do You Love Her’ is another track that I like off Before Love Came to Kill Us. In this song she is angry, her lover hurt her and she wants revenge. She knows this person isn’t treating her right and she doesn’t understand how they could treat her this way when they’re the very person that made her into the ‘monster’ she mentions in the song. I think sometimes people can become a monster as a way to cope with the hurt that we absorb in life. I think Jessie is singing about that, the times you don’t really recognize yourself because you’ve become something that you’re not. She’s allowed herself to change for this person, and she has allowed them to hurt her and treat her poorly; for some reason, she cares too much to walk away and do what’s right for herself. Once she does get herself out of the situation, she regrets that she didn’t take revenge.

I think there’s an important lesson within the song: we shouldn’t change who we are or lose ourselves for other people. This is about self-value and self-respect. 

Check out Before Love Came to Kill Us. Jessie Reyez has a distinctive voice and a way of erasing the boundary between our experiences and how we feel about those things. Some of the violent imagery on the album is reminiscent of early Eminem, who is actually featured on the track ‘Coffin’. Jessie is a powerful performer, too. Back in November 2018, I took photos of her at a concert at the London Music Hall in London, Ontario. This is one of my favourite shots from that night. 

Jessie Reyez on stage at the London Music Hall in London, Ontario, in November 2018.

Photo by Emily Stage of young & free press.

Basia Bulat released the song ‘Already Forgiven’ early in February, and her new album Are You in Love? came out March 27th via Secret City Records. We were looking forward to seeing her at the Aeolian Hall in London this spring, but the tour has been postponed because of the pandemic.

The focus of ‘Already Forgiven’ is the challenge of acknowledging that we have been hurt and need to move on. Truly forgiving someone is the result of a long, hard process, but this can bring great relief. This song sounds so dreamy, as if she’s trying to make you feel that kind of relief, too. It’s such a unique track. Personally, I rarely think about the difficulty of forgiving someone and transcending those emotions. In a way, forgiveness seems so simple – just say the words – but it is difficult to bring yourself to that point. Basia dials in on this and thinks through the emotions. Do we really consider the relief and peace of mind that we can achieve? I think a lot of people just prefer to hold a grudge because that’s easier, but it leaves you with the anger and irritation inside. The fact that Basia came up with this song shows how creative she is. There are a whole lot of repetitive songs out there, but she really chose a significant subject for this one. 

For anyone unfamiliar with Basia Bulat, here is an early gem called ‘The Shore’, which she performs using an instrument called a pianoette (akin to a hammered dulcimer). Incredible stuff … 

‘Break My Heart’ is a new song by Dua Lipa. If you feel like a glitzy dance-pop song, this one might be for you. Sampling the tune of ‘Need You Tonight’ by INXS, Dua sings about being in love and how vulnerable that makes her feel. She’s accustomed to being the first to leave a relationship. She’s used to not caring. She’s had a lot of experiences and now feels like she knows what she wants and that she’s truly found it. She worries if this person feels the same way, and she’s scared they will hurt her. She doesn’t want to be in love if she’s going to get hurt. ‘Am I falling in love with the one that could break my heart?’, she asks. Part of her wishes she never met this person so she didn’t have to feel this fear, but at the same time the experience is exciting.

Watching the music video, I noticed the interesting scene transitions, lots of changes but not quite skipping from scene-to-scene; instead, the viewer kind of falls through portals into the next setting. This feels like a bit of time-travel. Her clothing in the video has an 80s vibe to match the INXS time-period. All the 80s and 90s clothing trends have been coming back, along with some of the music, too. While I hear the INXS sample in the song, listen to the start – I feel like the beat is also reminiscent of ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ by Queen.  

We take lots of road trips at young & free press and listen to The Killers consistently. My colleague, Maddie King, knows just about every word to every song, so of course I had to include the new song ‘Caution’. I think the song is about exploring, leaving your boring old town, and just living the best life you can, escaping and making your life more interesting. Lead singer Brandon Flowers expresses the frustration of feeling trapped. Personally, I can relate to this song because I feel like my own city is rather dull. As a teen living in St. Thomas, I don’t think there is really much to do. I don't feel like there’s anywhere to go, especially since I don’t have a car. I also know a few other teens who can’t wait to escape this city and find something more fun and exciting. Small cities or towns can be nice and peaceful, but I wouldn’t say this vibe is something a lot of young people enjoy for long periods of time. Here is one of the key lyrics in the song: ‘If I don’t get out of this town / I just might be the one who finally burns it down.’

I think everyone is probably really relating to this song right now, being trapped in your small house during a pandemic, struggling to find anything to do, wishing you could escape. ‘Caution’ is a great song, definitely one of those dance-around-your-room-like-an-idiot numbers.  My guess is that we have another full summer of car rides coming up with The Killers blasting all night. 

Okay, one more song for you to consider adding to the playlist: ‘If There’s Another Road’ by Joel Plaskett, one of the tracks off his new quadruple album titled 44. From my perspective as a seventeen-year-old, I think this song is about the road of life. We choose things and make decisions that change our lives in some way. Sometimes we are happy about our decisions and sometimes we are not, but we can’t change the past. This song acknowledges the moments that we wish we had chosen a different road, and the desperate search for a better path that comes with this struggle. I think it’s good to realize when you’ve made a poor choice and to do your best to solve the problem, but also understand and let go when the situation is out of your control. The music video is a little bit of an adventure through a downtown area on a winter day. The video ends on a building with the address 44 on it, echoing the name of the album. Joel is also 44 years old this year. Over the past few years, he has performed a few times down the street from my house at the Princess Ave Playhouse in St. Thomas … hopefully he comes again, because I want to see the show. 

During this frustrating / boring / upsetting time, what could be better than listening to great new music and really digging deep into the meaning of everything? No better time to get thoughtful than during a global pandemic when you're trapped in your house … when this whole thing is over, we can remember the artists who helped us to get through, and then go out to the concerts and sing-along as loud as we can.

Stay healthy, everyone …