Songs Amidst a Pandemic

Morningside Music Night, March 2019

At this juncture, it is pertinent to realise that this is probably the only time in our lives when we will have time. Most of our school days are spent catching up on schoolwork or complaining about the amount of schoolwork we have to catch up on. But now, we don’t even have the luxury of complaining about our schedules. We don’t even have one! It’s the couch potato’s dream vacation. 

 

But I need a vacation from this vacation! After careful consideration, I decided that there are generally two types of activities you can do to remedy this: doing constructive things [1] and doing things you have been meaning to do for a long time, but were always “too busy” for [2].

 

So, what really are constructive activities [1]? I devised a 3-step test to help you figure out whether something is a constructive activity. If it is, then it should:

• Be beneficial to your current or future self (SUBJECTIVE test);
• Get you out of bed in the morning; and
• Not be a hinderance to someone else’s mental or physical well-being.

This test beats all! Step 2 even effectively kills off my father’s favourite phrase – “I’m saving the world by sleeping all day”. With this test you are invincible. I revised stuff I learnt in Year 1 that was coming back to haunt me, and actually practiced the piano until my fingers ached.

But apart from trying to become superwomen and supermen, we also need some soulful times. And staying home too much is a great time to start figuring that out. For me, it’s been about learning to take care of my super-reactive skin, actually eating 3 meals a day (gone are the days of library air for lunch), buying the legal version of Sims4 for the first time in my life, saying subtle hellos to scary things in my head, and spending a lot more time with my sisters (the younger one talks about ballet more than my boyfriend talks about playing Rainbow6, and the older one in the UK is getting used to being glared at when she goes out in a mask. Oh well, the delicacies of different lives).

Learning to cook while stuck indoors!

Refreshing morning hike - but with masks on!

But most of all, I have been listening to a lot of music. And this is exactly the right time for me to force my music taste down your throats, because these are albums that made me feel things. You may cry, you may go crazy in your room, you may call your ex… I take no responsibility for the power of good music. But if you do find yourself having too much time, and wanting some new music to listen to, this list should serve you well! So, these are the 10 albums that hold my heart.

* = chef recommended

I have performed a cover of one of my favourite songs from the album list:

In And Out Of Love (Cover) - Oh Wonder

A final word –

The world is definitely not in a healthy place right now, but we can’t hope to do good for society if we can’t even take care of ourselves. With all the silent mental pressures this virus can cause, we must be always guarded against the potentially terrible effects of social-distancing and over-worrying. Remember to call your friends, spend time with your family and stay fit by jumping around the house! If you have the capacity to do so, spread health tips and donate to charities that are dealing with the virus in more unfortunate countries.

Funny how my song list didn’t have a single John Lennon song, so here’s a wholesome quote from him instead – “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.”

Best of wishes and stay healthy (physically and mentally!)

- Christie