The moment you hug a friend after months, years even, of not feeling the genuine whole body experience of warmth and physical validation of belonging – that is a truly visceral moment. The days, weeks, months, have stretched on with hugs only being possible with my partner at home… and the norms of social interaction have become disjointed, weird, questionable.
Before the pandemic of 2020, hugs were my go to way of greeting most humans in my life. The arts scene, especially the folk scene, is a very warm and huggable space, and in between the first two lockdowns in Sydney there was a time where we were allowed in each other’s houses to play music again. The first of one such times was both a joyful and saddening experience for me, as member of Chaika and I danced around the restrictions in varying ways during rehearsal. It was our first rehearsal since our tour was cut short by the covid pandemic, and we hadn’t seen one another for about 3 months. The government had rolled out so many adds about not hugging or shaking hands, and instead ‘elbow bumping’, we all positioned ourselves awkwardly around a room and tried to play music. I felt possibly even more disconnected than when I hadn’t been able to see my friends who were now right in front of me.
On the 20 minute car drive home, I wrote a song (out loud, as I couldn’t write whilst driving). I arrived home and went to the piano to play it. Nick was home and came to play it with me, helping with the second verse. It said the things I wanted to say and, as the wattle blooms and fades again, it remains as relevant now as it did a year ago.
We released it very recently as our duo Little Clouds, and I received a message from a friend still in lockdown Victoria that she listens to it as one of her ‘morning anthems, awaiting lockdown’.
Here is a video we made for it as the wattle was in its full bloom during Sydney’s most recent lockdown.
You can also listen and download it on Bandcamp for $1 (best way for musicians to make any income from their music online) and if you stream then choose your poison here and PLEASE … add it to your playlists 😉
As always I want to send a huge thank you to those who choose to be a member of my Patreon family. It’s been quiet there for a couple of weeks, but I’ve been working on a really lovely gift to send to you all that I am very excited about! If you want to join then check out www.patreon.com/musicbyemilyrose