It’s no question that 2020 has been the craziest year yet — both for the young and the old. Stress has been brought upon us in many different ways, whether that be financially, mentally, or emotionally. However through it all, we have found many ways to cope. Specifically, one of those methods entailed listening to music, or even creating music ourselves. I personally found a major mood boost by just getting in my car and driving around listening to music over the course of the pandemic.
Back in March and April, social media became flooded with videos of people singing, playing instruments, and even performing on apartment balconies with their neighbors. These videos created a sense of togetherness when we were all stuck in our homes and away from loved ones.
TikTok further created this sense of togetherness by users making videos to assure others that they weren’t the only ones feeling lonely. The app blew up with different trends every month, using now arguably iconic songs and sounds like “Bored in the House” by Curtis Roach and “Supalonely” by BENEE feat. Gus Dapperton.
Moving through the pandemic, artists began taking matters into their own hands by releasing new music. While Conan Grey’s album “Kid Krow” was already in the works well before quarantine, it was released on March 20 and gave us the now dearly loved song “Heather”, along with 11 other beautifully crafted songs. It’s a no-skip album in my opinion.
Aside from that album release, a good majority of new music during the pandemic were singles. Some of those songs even referenced the events of the pandemic, giving us songs like “Level of Concern” by Twenty One Pilots and “Better Days” by OneRepublic. A few artists even managed to film music videos while following social distancing guidelines. Selena Gomez and BlackPink released their song “Ice Cream” and managed to film the music video with Gomez in Los Angeles and the K-pop group in Korea, according to Billboard. They were not playing about keeping a safe distance.
A few other single releases not focusing on the topic of quarantine were sprinkled here and there, providing a few of my personal favorites like “my future” by Billie Eilish, “Backyard Boy” by Claire Rosinrkranz, and the coveted recreation of “Heart of Glass” by Miley Cyrus. I could cover so many more songs from the long list of pandemic song releases, but I only have so much time to touch on my favorites. Trust me, I could write a whole other story on the good and bad of Ariana Grande’s new album “Positions”.
When it comes down to it, music (new and old) has deemed itself to be a great escape and coping mechanism for all of the stress happening around the world. Nothing beats putting in your headphones or cranking up the stereo in your car and listening to your favorite artists. The great thing about listening to music is that you don’t even need a reason to be listening to it. A great way to relax is just laying on your bed or sitting on the couch listening to music. I have a record player and can’t begin to explain how happy it makes me to put on a record and do nothing else, just relax.
I highly recommend re-exploring old music that you used to listen to. It’s surprising how much you can see that your tastes may have changed, but still enjoy that nostalgic feeling of your One Direction playlist from 2012. We’re all still somewhat stuck where we are and things could stay that way for who knows how much longer, so let music be your escape. Your mental health will thank you later.
