Quarantine creations: Warwick students

Creative people, all stuck at home, have been inspired to create. I’m a composer and, faced with a huge global pandemic, I wondered if it would be possible to put a little bit of it to song.

As ever, I chose not to write a song based on my own experience and viewpoints: it’s far more fun to explore what someone else thinks. And with everything currently dedicated to Covid-19, it wasn’t hard to find some differing perspectives. I’m rather enjoying the slower pace of lockdown, but I wanted an angle to explore the restlessness of people my age.

If we want to eventually go out, we have to keep staying in

The inspiration came from two very unlikely sources – our university confessions page, and our very own vice-chancellor. On WarwickLove, I saw lots of messages from people eager to return to campus so they could engage in a bit of Term 3 partying. And then, in Stuart Croft’s attempt to inspire us, he promised us “one hell of a party” when we return. With these two separate influences in mind, I constructed a narrator – a student who understands the need to stay in and stay safe but also wants to return to a life of fun and clubbing.

I wanted to highlight the difficulty of living through such contradictory times – as I say in one of the choruses, if we want to eventually go out, we have to keep staying in. So, my music and my lyrics keep alternating through two moods, following lockdown measures and then dreaming of freedom.

This is such a unique moment in time. Everyone in the world is in the same boat

A plaintive piano, marking the current scenario and the reflection it’s encouraging, keeps butting against a partying swing rhythm. As the lockdown continues and we all become more restless with staying at home, I expect this feeling to resonate.

I don’t think I would have written a song like this usually (because I’m never normally on-trend), but this is such a unique moment in time. Everyone in the world is in the same boat, and it’s such a huge phenomenon to tap into. I know it’s a small thing, but it kept me occupied and if it puts a smile on someone’s face, why not?