So, as you know, all hell broke loose in March. The world turned upside-down, life was put on hold, and we were all staying home to keep from dying or infecting other people. Lots of people lost their jobs with no warning, businesses were forced to close, and people had to keep faith that what they were doing was for the greater good.
Well, we are in the second month of quarantine, and collectively, we are starting to lose our minds. The uncertainty and anxiety of how long this will last has started to come out in weird ways, some people breaking the rules, travelling, seeing friends for some relief, others lashing out, as it becomes apparent that we are not all equal in this crisis, and that some will suffer while others play and ride it out. It is extremely difficult to come together when so many forces tear us apart.
I wrote this song in one wine-filled scrawl on notebook paper, left it for a couple weeks and then added structure to it one late night before bed. A friend of mine keeps bugging me to enter Tiny Desk, and I didn’t think I had it in me to do one of my chestnuts, but this song came out, and I decided to bite the bullet and put myself out there to get this across. Mourning my twin heroes, John Prine and Bill Withers, men who served their country, spoke the truth, and weren’t afraid to tackle social injustice.
It’s not a “stay home, we’re all in this together” anthem. I wish I could make you feel that good, but I speak my truth about the general anxiety of this time and how perplexing it seems at times what it’s doing to us. I hope I don’t offend, I am just expressing my current reality as an essential worker, waking up every morning, taking my temperature, wondering if I have it or not. The mask, though unnecessary indoors, helped with my nervousness and served to document this moment in time, when it is such a flashpoint for our daily lives, to cover our faces and what makes us individuals for the sake of public health.
I hope you can understand or see some of this reality I am sharing with you. I hope you can be kinder and more understanding to your fellow human, I know it’s easy to be angry when we are in different boats in a turbulent sea, but I feel like our survival hinges on reaching for the better parts of ourselves and finding ways to cope, create, and continue community.
Alice Lee 