Let's Talk COVID Songwriting

Let’s Talk – Reflecting on Pandemic Life

 by Annika Labus, MTI

With the end of 2020 and the anniversary of the COVID-19 outbreak upon on us, I would just like to say it has been a WILD year. It was not what I expected out of it at all. At the start of the year I moved from Huntsville,TX all the way back home to the Rio Grande Valley. I was to start my internship in July and move all the way up to Fort Worth. I had a whole semester off and was going to spend it with my friends since I never saw them during the school year.

But then COVID-19 happened and everything paused. I started staying inside my house by February and the only people I ever talked to face to face were my family. Everyone else was through text messages, social media and Animal Crossing; basically just typing online.

I ended up not moving and stayed home. I had spent the last 3 years of my life interacting with many different people at school and at work. So going back home and only being able to see my family was a weird transition. By the time my internship started, I felt like I lost a lot of my social skills. I would get really nervous talking to people even if it was through zoom because it had been such a long time since I had any sort of verbal interaction. 

So I wrote this song to express my feelings about the situation. A lot of things would go through my mind before I spoke and I can’t just erase what I say if I’m talking to someone. I admit, it took a while to get used to the situation this year has brought us. But writing this song helped me realize my feelings about this year and I found myself adjusting to this new normal.

Let's Talk COVID Songwriting Square

Let’s Talk – Annika Labus

 

[Verse]

It’s all in my head and it makes sense to me 

I say it out loud this is not how it’s supposed to be 

How do I go and simplify my thoughts 

I know it’s a mess I know that it’s a lot 

 

I said some things without thinking first 

The conversations over and now I have a word burst

To stay quiet or just smile through 

I get awkward and I don’t know what to do 

 

But I’ll say what I want to say right now 

 

[Chorus]

My minds going about a 100 miles a minute 

There are so many things I don’t know how to fit it 

I can talk about the topics or stuff about my day

But once it’s out my mouth I don’t know what to say 

 

That’s why I journal to talk to myself

But it’s different when it comes to somebody else 

And now we have technology and I am stuck in quarantine 

It’s weird to talk face to face it’s not like I can press erase 

 

[Verse]

Is it nerves or lack of confidence  

Maybe both but I think I do okay I guess 

I’m bad at thinking on the spot 

I gotta make sure that I write down all my thoughts 

 

I stay quiet to listen through and through 

I think to myself on what I’m supposed to do 

Then it’s me and I don’t know how to speak 

I try to act cute and funny and that’s my coping technique 

 

[Chorus]

 

[Bridge]

I cannot hide behind a screen 

It’s not like I have time to type down what I think 

I have to speak in the now

I can speak but will there be a sound?

 

[Chorus] x2

 

Annika Labus, Music Therapy Intern

Find Annika’s YouTube channel here

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