@Watney Sideburns posted:I love everything about it. The tune, the performance, the production, the video, the Mitchell Froom psychedelic fairy soundburst, the lyrics. Especially the lyrics.
This is a Covid-era song, not a Karaoke retread of glories from the last millennium. It’s an era in which “tyranny of distance” means something altogether different from what it did in 1984 and “together alone” from what it did in 1993. This song celebrates the euphoria of coming together in a time of massive crisis and isolation, from all around the world and against enormous odds, to reconnect. In music, in solidarity, in intimacy.
As a homesick Kiwi who has been isolated in lockdown for a year here in India, and who has not been able to go back home to see his ailing parents, both the song and the video rang true for me. The five band members stranded on shores, in bush, in urban jungles, in caves, yet somehow beating that supercilious bouncer to be together on/in The Island. And to be together with a crowd. Those are longings I can relate to. I’ve been watching Super Rugby Aotearoa games here on my laptop and weeping — not because of the rugby but because of the crowds filling the stadiums, thanks to a responsible government that has succeeded in managing the pandemic sensibly. Yes, even “crowded house” means something different in 2021 ftom what it did in 1986, or 2007.
What I’d give to be back on The Island.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. Do wish you the best and hope you get home soon.