From the recording SMS Out
A little more about SMS Out.
This song was initially inspired by the TikTok ban last year. I wrote SMS Out as a high-energy track to capture the frantic atmosphere of a sudden social media shutdown. I blended aggressive rhymes with a train like beat, to reflect that chaos and immediate impact of being disconnected from the digital world.
I wanted to create a sonic, somewhat chaotic journey as I thought about going through the process if it all shut down. There would be initial shock, a scramble for alternative communication, and then an underlying tension of a world suddenly offline. I wanted to explore these themes of technology and societal shifts because the ways in which social media have changed over the years have been massive and possibly not so good for us. But would we be ok if it went away?
Lyrics
What if social media just went away
If it just disappeared tomorrow
How would you feel
World gone crazy, they shut down my page
No likes, no comments, no feed, no rage
A life without Facebook, Instagram Tiktok Twitter
I can’t believe it, it’s an emotional mixture
No more notifications, no more DMs
No more filters, no more memes
The social network ban, a life-changing event
It feels like a curse, we can’t prevent
A drop in my energy no mobile phone for me
Truly lonely disconnected with only
A way to tether [pause] to my family and peers
That’s slow and ignored for years
I wonder if I’ll even get through
It’s a mystery where the knowledge sits with the few
Tricked into needing these ways to reach out
Humanity collapsing, powerful keep clout!
lost without my phone, my friends are gone
All the love disappeared, I’m so alone
From denial to acceptance, I’m feeling all
The emotions hit me hard, it’s a freefall
Lack of dopamine demands
Nothing to do with my hands
Shut down…locked out…withdrawn…so long….
Need to shout, melt my brain, shutting down, all around
Connections suffer, no more online pics
People feel lonely, no more emoji tricks
Individuals lost, no more online fame
Social media ban, it’s not a game
Taking it away, hypothetical doom
The impact on society, it’s the elephant in the room
needing to be conscious, of our online life
A speculative ban, a lesson for life.
lost without my phone, my friends are gone
All the love evaporated, I’m so alone
From denial to acceptance, I’m feeling all
The emotions hit me hard, it’s a freefall
Lack of dopamine demands
Nothing to do with my hands
Shut down…locked out…withdrawn…so long….
Need to shout, melt my brain, words fall out, undergone
Like a modern day tower of babel
When people could communicate without travel
The powerful found out It’s all a risk
must stop the plebs before they get too thick
We broke some of the tools
Changed a bunch of the rules
Taken away it was wrecked
It was an unexpected effect
lost without my phone, my friends are gone
All the love dissipated, I’m so alone
From denial to acceptance, I’m feeling all
The emotions hit me hard, it’s a freefall
Lack of dopamine demands
Nothing to do with my hands
Shut down…locked out…withdrawn…so long….
Need to shout, melt my brain, words fall out, undergone
Now that people have a disconnect - easier to oppress