This song started out as a way to explore modes of communication from the long past to now and think about what has changed but also remained the same and the impact that may have had on humanity. Looking in the mirror for humans has been a tool to gauge reality, although not always accurately, going back 8,000 years.
As the thousands of years have gone by, that search for truth has constantly changed, some might say it’s more complicated today than ever before. We started out being able to talk to each other with grunts and eventually words, then our technology evolved and we could communicate over time and distance. That distance shrunk again when that ability became instant and virtual too.
As all of our ability to communicate grows because of our technology, it becomes more glaringly clear and sometimes dangerous where we lack it. Which sources can we trust? It becomes less clear as more sources need to be questioned and can be hard to vet. Where do we get our news, how do we know it’s true? The details matter but it’s harder to discern what’s correct. It could be something our life depends on or a silly piece of misinformation that simply inconveniences us.
In this confusion, our instincts guide us to rely on what we can see. Even though it has been proven that eyewitness testimony is utterly unreliable, it still feels solid because that’s how we work. Ironically when we look at ourselves in the mirror, we see the most intimate and distorted reality. That’s why it’s important that no matter what we do in that moment, we calm ourselves and say, it’s ok to not be ok.
Lyrics
Hanging on OK
Face to face we spoke in words when we met
Text was practiced writing letters to connect
Telegraph, radio, tv brought the mass
PCs and telephones on the go brought the dash
Internet made it fast easy and simple
These communication steroids made us more nimble
You hear everyone complain about screens
Not honest - most hide from the scene
Hide from the scene
Hide from the scene
Hide from the scene
Look in the mirror and say
It’s OK to not be OK!
Tell yourself every day
Shifts in reality create disarray
Look in the mirror and say
Look in the mirror and say
Look in the mirror and say
It’s OK to not be OK!
Hanging on OK
Nexus of your personality
Is Defined by what others see
If You have a certain proclivity
You want a view provided by society
Dangers can come from an external source
Unexpected thermal melt like Icarus
Validation sprang from a need to survive
Complex to navigate so you can thrive
Look in the mirror and say
It’s OK to not be OK!
Tell yourself every day
Shifts in reality create disarray
Look in the mirror and say
Look in the mirror and say
Look in the mirror and say
It’s OK to not be OK!
Virtual life lets you present
Any persona you can hide the blemishes
3D life requires you show up
People see and hear you - feels like they judge
We advance in our tools
Can collapse based on our own rules
Choose fabrication or partial truth
Dangerous access to youth
Look in the mirror and say
It’s OK to not be OK!
Tell yourself every day
Shifts in reality create disarray
Look in the mirror and say
Look in the mirror and say mirror mirror
Look in the mirror and say
It’s OK to not be OK!
When it comes to everyday problems i see
Who can I believe to inform me?
access is good but vetting is gone
Where can I find my own solid ground?
Pop culture impacts my route
Help! Shall I seek them out?
If so, what type am I about?
Next up, who and what brings the clout?
Look in the mirror and say
It’s OK to not be OK!
Tell yourself every day
Shifts in reality create disarray
Look in the mirror and say
Look in the mirror and say
Look in the mirror and say
It’s OK to not be OK!
Hanging on OK……..