Your Corona-virus Song of the Day. Twenty.

Saw a lot of tweets today referencing the author’s (tweeter’s?) Spotify “Wrapped” selections. For the uninformed, Wrapped is a feature of Spotify that details the subscriber’s listening habits over the previous year. And if you have read more than a couple of my posts, you won’t be surprised to find that my most-listened-to artist in 2020 was R.E.M. In fact, I have an entire post dedicated to describing R.E.M. as my comfort music.

But this post is not about letting you know what I listened to all year. This post is about helping you cope – through music – with the the stress of 2020. High on my 2020 play-count list is just such a song. From the R.E.M. album Life’s Rich Pageant – and how’s this for appropriate – “These Days”.

It’s a good song for lifting the spirits: fast-paced and full of energy, with lyrics that range from the ridiculous:

March into the ocean, march into the sea, had a hat
I put it down and it sunk, reached down
Yanked it up, slapped it on my head

to the clever:

We have many things in common, name three

A good song makes the listener feel something. In the case of “These Days”, what the listener feels is energized. Lyrics? Who cares – let’s just dance to it.

A great song has something extra – a near-subliminal, listen-closely-or-you’ll-miss-it component: a well-crafted counter-melody, a poetic line, or a meaningful phrase that catches the ear and sticks in the brain. What makes “These Days” great, in my estimation, are two simple lines.

First:

We are young despite the years

And though this line becomes more meaningful the older I get, it is the second line that gets our attention and resets our resolve for this nightmare of a year.

We are hope despite the times

In the same way we must, as the years pass, struggle to maintain a young, fresh outlook, we must also struggle to maintain hope when the journey is harder than ever, the outlook is dim, and the road seems endless.

I am young despite the years.

I am concern.

I am hope despite the times.