Artists Find Musical Inspiration in Isolation
Take a listen to a few new songs written about isolation amid COVID-19:
Singer Alec Benjamin Atlantic Records Press Photo. Source: "Alec Benjamin Press Photo Atlantic.jpg" by Atlantic Records
“Six Feet Apart”- Alec Benjamin
Singer-songwriter Alec Benjamin depicts the story of social distancing from someone he loves, as well as the anxieties that come with this sort of isolation. This is something many are experiencing in the world right now.
This anxiety that Benjamin is describing is apparent right from the beginning of the song. He sings, “They say distance is relative/And relative to relatives I have/I’d say I’m relatively close/To breaking down/Because right now/I feel so alone.” He further delves into these anxieties by talking about someone he cares deeply for and the difficulties knowing someone is so close to you yet feel so far away at six feet. Benjamin notes how he misses the once overlooked simplicities of life such as holding someone close to him or having someone ride in the passenger seat of his car.
On April 2, a week before the release of “Six Feet Apart,” Benjamin posted to Instagram: “Wrote this yesterday, it’s called 6ft apart. It was inspired by COVID-19. The vocals & guitars were recorded on my phone & the song was written and produced over FaceTime. Hope it makes you feel a little less lonely.” The format of producing music through FaceTime has now become the new normal, with many music videos and photoshoots now being done this way as well.
“Six Feet Apart,” a song about living in a quarantined state for an unknown amount of time, allows the listener to feel more at ease. As alone as they may feel in the world, Benjamin sends the message that everyone is stuck in a state of quarantine and it is just something we all have to abide by until the world is safe again.
“IDK You Yet”- Alexander 23
In a time of uncertainty such as this one, it is not uncommon to be plagued with loneliness amid isolation and quarantining. Alexander 23 encourages this feeling of vulnerability through “IDK You Yet” with spine-tingling acoustics and soothing words that make these confusing emotionswe may be experiencing feel normal. The feeling of any sort of normalcy, especially with a song like this one, when the world seems to be turned upside down is therapeutic.
Alexander swiftly starts the song singing about an unknown feeling of losing or missing someone from your life. It is a feeling of being alone and not knowing how to remedy it when you really cannot surround yourself with masses of people. Alexander 23 sings, “How can you miss someone you’ve never met/ ‘Cause I need you now but I don’t know you yet/ But can you find me soon because I’m in my head/ Yeah, I need you now but I don’t know you yet.”
In a live interview on MCA Music’s Facebook page, Alexander explained the vulnerability behind the hit track. “I wrote ‘IDK You Yet’ in quarantine. It wasn’t a song that I was sitting on for any amount of time. It was like a direct emotional response to everything going on and I put it out two weeks since writing it, which was super quick. But I felt like people were feeling the same way as me and needed to hear that song this time.”
When scrolling through the comments on Alexander 23’s Instagram post announcing the release of this single, it is clear that he was very much right to believe that people needed to hear this song. Fans of the song praised him for bringing a feeling of happiness they felt months before the pandemic or for bringing them to tears over the simple beauty of the song in its entirety. This praise is rightfully deserved; any feeling of happiness one can get in a pandemic is needed.
Luke Combs Performing in Orange Beach, Alabama before COVID-19. Source: "Amazing experience to learn concert photography from @davidbergman tonight at the Luke Combs concert”
“Six Feet Apart”- Luke Combs
Similar to Benjamin’s pandemic single, country singer Luke Combs released a single with his take on the simple pleasures life used to offer before the pandemic. Capturing the hearts of many
country fans, Combs sings, “I miss my mom, I miss my dad/ miss the road, I miss my band/Giving hugs and shaking hands/ It’s a mystery, I suppose/ Just how long this thing goes/ But there’ll be crowds and there’ll be shows/ And there will be light after dark/ Some day when we aren’t six feet apart.”
On an episode of Verified on Genius, Combs said, “No one was ever in the same room as each other, everybody was wearing masks...cause usually when you go in the studio it’s a real kind of like group atmosphere...but we kept it real skeleton groove for this so it was different.”
This collaborative effort that a majority of musicians such as Combs are used to is indefinitely halted until the virus subsidies. Even Luke Combs, who is not the only musician yearning to get back on the road again states at the end of his interview, “...it’s a wait and see environment and doing what musicians do I think that would be one of the last things that open back up.”
The waiting game for touring is still ongoing, with many musicians having to resort to Instagram live streams for a while more. However, as Combs said in “Six Feet Apart,” there will be a light after this dark period, and this single encourages listeners to look towards a positive future.