I’ve been trying hard to find song which resonates what we’re all experiencing with this pandemic and I felt that Neil Young’s “Don’t Let it Bring You Down” off of his After The Gold Rush album fits my current mindset perfectly.

The title of the album itself is one which portrays my generation’s feelings toward the pandemic. Without any real wars or other mass pandemics like this one, my generation has gotten pretty easy up until this point. However, we, for the most part, have been so safe and healthy that we hadn’t even realized how good we’ve had it.

For the rest of our lives we will be living in the time after the gold rush. Coronavirus should be a huge wake up call to anyone, myself included, who has lived without any real worries and expected life to be handed to them.

In “Don’t Let it Bring You Down,” Young speaks of staying positive through hardship, which is exactly what we all most do, among other things, to get through this pandemic quickly and safely.

Old man lying
By the side of the road
With the lorries rolling by
Blue moon sinking
From the weight of the load
And the buildings scrape the sky

Cold wind ripping
Down the alley at dawn
And the morning paper flies
Dead man lying
By the side of the road
With the daylight in his eyes

Don’t let it bring you down
It’s only castles burning
Find someone who’s turning
And you will come around

We’re all old men on the side of the road and it seems as if the world is sinking from the weight of our worries. However, this is only castles burning and it will pass. So find someone with a positive mindset and follow them and eventually we will get through this and be happy.