#songoftheday = CITY AND COLOUR: “HOPE FOR NOW” (#songsofourtimes #8)

Today’s song of the day is “Hope for Now” by City and Colour, which is the moniker the insanely-talented singer/songwriter Dallas Green goes by. It’s a bit of a somber song, but we also feel like it’s an inspiring one. Like a little candle in the dark. Its light might not radiate far ahead of you, but it’s just enough to keep you going. And that’s what the song is all about. It finds Dallas feeling hopeless, singing, “I’ve got a sickness in my head,” but the idea that he could “sing just one song and it might save somebody’s life” keeps him driving forward, though the highway is “dark and empty.” He might feel like his own life is worthless during that moment, but he can’t help but think about the life he might save with the next song he writes.

I think this is an important song right now because we can all make a gesture that might save somebody’s life by staying home unless it’s absolutely necessary to go out. Because maybe COVID-19 would just send you to bed for a couple of days after which you’d be good as new, but someone else like my nephew with lung disease, or my aunt with lung cancer, could die if they were to catch it. And while you might feel healthy, you could be infected. You could be the one who touches something that spreads it to someone else who shakes someone’s hand and gives it to them and they get sick and give it to the nurse my aunt sees for chemo and she could give it to her. If there’s one thing we know for sure about this virus, it’s that it’s extremely contagious. So, staying in isn’t just about keeping yourself healthy. It’s about keeping everyone healthy. Especially those who have health problems that would cause them to die if they caught the virus.

So, stay in, and if you’re bored, or just curious, I’ve made a playlist of some contenders for these #songsofourtimes posts called Only Hope on Spotify. Let me just warn you that you’ll hear the words “hope” and “end of the world” more times than you can count by the time you finish listening to it, but I’m proud of this playlist nevertheless.

Read the complete lyrics on Genius.

NOTE: Each day, we’re going to post a song of the day that’s relevant to what’s going in the world. Songs meant to either inspire or at least provide companionship or food for thought. The emphasis will, of course, be on the positive.