Writing In Lockdown

How many solo albums are going to be released after lockdown? Whenever that may be. Like everyone, songwriters and musicians have been holed up for the past couple of months or so with no outlet most are familiar with such as gigs or rehearsals for them to write, record and perform. So where does that energy go? Into writing and maybe recording at home doing a solo album. Or two. Or three.

One of the challenges of lockdown from a songwriter’s point of view is what to write about. It’s been a strange and anxious experience for everyone across the world and inevitably there will be a mountain of lockdown-related songs coming out in the coming months. But beyond the obvious themes of escape and contagion, there are also thousands of little stories which express that sense of humanity which is a perennial theme for all writers regardless of medium.

For example, I was at the health centre recently helping some elderly neighbours with medication and while there we got talking to a woman whose husband was in a terrible way. She was his carer and we lent an ear and helped how we could to ease her burden albeit for just a few minutes that day. Although lockdown has created a multitude of themes to write about, I was still finding that it’s the everydayness of people that is still the most inspiring thing to write about. I thought about writing a song about that situation and her story that day. Hopefully I might even start writing it soon.