COVID-19: Sing While You’re (still) Living
music
/ˈmjuːzɪk/
noun
the art of combining vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. (Oxford English Dictionary, 1992).
When the COVID-19 pandemic ends, and we reflect on this moment of acute peril, there will be many images to reference; the tragic hurses in Lombardy, the selfish panic-buyers stockpiling essential goods, the health workers begging us to stay at home. But there will also be the uplifting videos of people singing from balconies, making sounds with clapping and household items and creating concerts online. These videos have already travelled across the world, inspiring and strengthening people from every corner of the world in this desperate time. The heartbreak of COVID-19 has reminded us of music’s ability to connect people through a shared sense of identity, to provide comfort, to communicate and to entertain.
But this is not exclusive to 2020.
Music consoled Parisians who sang hymns to the ruins of Notre-Dame cathedral in 2019 and comforted Mancunians who sang ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ (1995) after the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017. During these crises, music provided a patriotic badge of identity which reinforced their place in the world but unlike a flag or piece of memorabilia, music provides self-expression of ones belonging to a community. When this music is performed with others, especially strangers, there is a heightened emotional response because they can communicate their shared feelings in words without having to specifically articulate their emotions. Also, it is powerful to witness Italians performing opera or Mancunians singing Oasis because we identify that music with those places and those people.
Music, especially song, creates these profound experiences because it provides an individual and collective response simultaneously. Each performer can have a personal experience with the song which is incorporated into these spontaneous balcony moments and shared with their neighbours’ personal experience. There is an understanding between participants that these songs are important to their identity and that these moments are rare in a world that is increasingly isolated which makes these experiences even more profound.
Music is a platform through which we can articulate and express emotion so there should be little surprise that it is vital during this pandemic. The contrasting images of selfish human behaviour and community through song provides a glimpse of hope during these trying times, reminding us of the visceral human need to be part of a community, to maintain hope and to express emotion.
Italians sing patriotic songs from balconies (2020):
Music provides a sense of identity during a time of crises when people can be unnerved. This video of Italians singing national anthems and opera re-establishes a sense of being grounded as patriotic badges remind them of their community and nationality. This is true also for people in Wuhan who performed patriotic songs and residents in Edinburgh who sung The Proclaimers’ song, ‘Sunshine on Leith’ (1998).
Wuhan residents sing patriotic songs (2020):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_PSSTP8ROg
Leith locals sing ‘Sunshine on Leith’ (2020):
https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/sunshine-leith-watch-leith-locals-17942357
The fact that we resort to familiar songs, rather than the latest hits, shows that primary motivation for this music is to anchor people in a time of uncertainty. The people of Leith share a sense of ownership over ‘Sunshine on Leith’ not only because it refers to their neighbourhood but because they sing it regularly whilst supporting Hibernian football club. Sports matches provide clear examples of patriotic badges as they use national anthems, songs, and flags to create a sense of community. Last year, whilst living abroad, I attended the Hong Kong Rugby 7s. Singing ‘Flower of Scotland’ with a handful of supporters, thousands of miles from home, provided a palpable sense of pride that I belonged to a community, even if it was made up of strangers. It is the same feeling that millions of people have shared whilst applauding NHS staff and other key workers every Thursday.
These national songs remind us of the fragility of humans. During this time of acute uncertainty, we have turned to music of rituals. Irish band, Hozier, performed ‘The Parting Glass’ which is well-known in Ireland as a folk song performed at funerals to commemorate victims of COVID-19 on The Late Late Show, a prominent Irish television show.
Hozier performing ‘The Parting Glass’ (2020)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-BmOhjbQ44
Manchester crowd sings ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ (2017):
During crises, songs provide a medium for self-expression. The rendition of ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ was initiated by a solo singer who continued to lead the song for the duration of the video. The fact that it was spontaneously sung after a minute’s silence emphasised the need for the mourners to express their sadness but resilience after the terrorist attack. The song acted as a patriotic badge for Manchester as the Gallagher brothers were born there and the text ‘she knows it’s too late and she’s walking on by…but don’t look back in anger’ articulated the fact that the terrorist attack could not be reversed and that anger was not a remedy to the tragedy.
Similarly, the French National Assembly erupted into a spontaneous rendition of the French national anthem, ‘La Marseillaise’, after the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in 2015. This was a clear example of self-expression and solidarity from politicians by singing a patriotic song in the country’s legislature.
The French National Assembly sing ‘La Marseillaise’ (2015):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rP3jrAz5Xw
In 2019, Parisians sang hymns overlooking the burning Notre-Dame cathedral. Hymns provided a ritual for Parisians who were witnessing the destruction of the most important religious building in France. They provided a sense of community as people did not yet know if the cathedral would survive and gave them a medium to express their fear and sadness in a mournful act as the building was personified as France itself. The destruction of such an important building acted as a metaphor for the damage to political institutions across the world. If Notre-Dame, a centuries-old symbol of French history, revolutions, and resilience during Nazi occupation, could be destroyed then institutions which represented liberty, equality and fraternity could also be destroyed.
Parisians sing hymns outside Notre-Dame cathedral (2019):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGf8r2JSeuw
The spirit of community created by Parisians singing to their burning temple and Italians singing from balconies redefined individual perspectives to create unity and therefore safety within the context of a crisis. Empathy is expressed through communal singing showing that people are united in troubling times. The rejection of celebrities singing John Lennon’s aspirational ‘Imagine’ illustrates the value of ordinary people singing songs that mean something to them. The attempt to offer unity and hope failed because it was inauthentic. Celebrities were trying to capture the organic performances that have erupted across the world and gone viral.
25 celebrities singing ‘Imagine’ (2020):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omEDLKS5pbY
‘Imagine’ is not a badge of identity for the singers and they do not share a community other than the fact that they are all famous. The weak performance itself is not a factor as other viral videos have lacked tuning or technical proficiency but have been lauded for their ability to show the best of human nature in ordinary people. Also, it is more authentic to hear Italians singing Puccini than American celebrities singing The Beatles. The weak analogy between the COVID-19 pandemic and Lennon’s call to renounce materialism and organised religion was illustrated as millionaires sang ‘imagine no possessions’ at a time when people have been furloughed and rely on government subsidies to live. This is exacerbated by the fact that celebrities have had access to critical testing that even medics treating patients have not had. COVID-19 has highlighted the bravery of unknown, ordinary people against the inabilities of political and business leaders. Similarly, it has highlighted the ability for ordinary people to inspire against the failure of celebrities.
Songs have provided relief from the tediousness of isolation during COVID-19 and provided entertainment to communities and people across the world. Where singing ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’, ‘La Marsaillaise’ and hymns provided comfort, hearing people singing opera with saucepans or singing ‘Sunshine on Leith’ accompanied by loudspeakers is amusing for people singing and watching. This might be because there is not the sense of immediate panic that there is after a terrorist attack but it is also because during this period of acute isolation music is one of the few things we can do to communicate with others and articulate our emotions. Crises show positive and negative attributes in humans and there have been examples of panic-buyers and people disobeying guidelines but the songs that have brought people to their balconies have united people across the world and brought comfort in a time of desperation.