Monday has arrived, and you know what that means, don’t you? Time for some music! This week is a freebie week, so grab your favorite tune(s), and come dance with us, won’t you? Let’s get this party started!

Let’s start with a song this artist penned back in Mid-March 2020. When panic struck in the Spring of 2020, he pulled it back out, feeling its message of hitting pause was relevant during an uncertain time. He was quoted as saying:

“We wrote this song from an introspective, truthful place. With everything that is happening in the world currently, and how fast-paced we are as a society in general, sometimes you just want everything to stop – just to appreciate what we do have. People are suffering and it can’t be ignored.”

“Sometimes people wanna dive into an introspective place rather than, you know, go party [their] blues away. Sometimes they wanna hear something that just takes them where they are.”

The artist released the song on May 15, 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, but its message is more general.

“We tried to write it to where the song can last forever, where it doesn’t necessarily have to be attached to this time period. The sentiment of ‘hey, world leave me alone,’ can be on any day in anybody’s life, at any moment. Sometimes you just need a minute.”

The collaboration with Dallas Davidson and Adam Wood was the first time that the artist had ever done a Zoom write. The song’s original inspiration came from Dallas Davidson recounting how earlier that morning his 4-year-old kid has asked him to turn the TV off. He was just watching the news, so Davidson asked him why. He said it was scaring him.

“All the deaths, all the stuff that’s coming… it’s so bad, bad, bad. And it is. It’s scary for an adult much less a 4-year-old. So, it really took Dallas back for a second… a perspective thing.”

Give a listen to Lee Brice with “Hey World”:

Next up, fourteen years after scoring a country Number One hit with their collaboration “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” these two artists reunite for a new duet, a country-music remix of one of the artist’s resilient pandemic anthem. The main artist quoted as saying:

“As I finished the mix and did the video [for the album version], I said, ‘Boy, this song would have such crossover potential.’ Jennifer was my first choice, and she said yes.”

The artist wrote the song after his wife Dorothea posted a photo to Instagram of him washing dishes during the pandemic at their JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, New Jersey, a pay-if-you-can restaurant for the hungry. The caption read, “If you can’t do what you do…do what you can.” The next day, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member set about telling a very topical story, writing literal lyrics about makeshift hospitals, frontline workers, and even social distancing.

For the remix, he enlisted Nashville power players to ready the song for a country audience. The artist is optimistic about recapturing the magic of “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”

“I got a feeling it will be a country Number One. It’s twanged up a bit with Dann Huff, the way we did ‘Who Says,’ and [Jennifer] is a powerhouse voice.”

The collaboration arrives with a reworked video that depicts the two artists meeting for a socially distanced greeting on the streets of New York. By song’s end, one artist is singing triumphantly on the deck of the USS Intrepid on the Hudson River, while the other dances atop a building in Manhattan. It’s a slice of euphoria for a bewildering time.

Get ready to dance and do what you can – here’s Bon Jovi featuring Jennifer Nettles with “Do What You Can”:

Next up is a group while best known for their awesome covers of existing songs in a cappella format, just released their first full-length album of original material in six, long years, on February 12, 2021. The group has already teased the project with one song, this one was the second single.

Little white horses on carousels and quicksand, am I one of you or one of them? / Television dulls my senses and reactions, I can’t seem to find my way again / Stranger that I call joy is who you are when I’m too far down, when there’s so many inside voices calling / Where do I, where do I run right now? Be my eyes, be my eyes

For your listening pleasure, here’s Pentatonix with “Be My Eyes”:

Last, but certainly not least, this artist turns the fate of the world over into the hands of a higher power in this song, an of-the-times song that calls on people of all walks of life to focus on faith. The song was born out of artist’s response to what has been a difficult year worldwide.

“As I sit and watch our world spin more and more out of control with anger, disease and hatred, I sometimes feel helpless and alone. I realized that this was the first time in my lifetime that the entire world was in the same bad situation all at the same time.”

The more he thought about it, though, the more he realized that his faith is what allows him to contend with those feelings of helplessness.

“I’ve always believed that ‘Man cannot fix man’s problems,’ but God can! The thought of our planet sending an SOS to God came to my mind and the song was born. I recorded it to hopefully bring peace, hope and unity to every human being that hears it. Amen.”

Without further ado, here’s John Rich with “Earth to God”:

That’s a wrap for this week – have a great Monday, I’ll see you on the dance floor, keeping that social distancing! Seriously though – hope you all are staying safe and healthy.

Now on to the particulars of Monday’s Music Move’s Me:   Photobucket

I have the supreme honor and privilege of being a co-host with the inimitable Xmas Dolly and our musical cohort, the awesome Cathy from Curious as a CAThy, and Alana of Ramblin’ with AM!

Want to join in the fun? It’s easy – just find a tune that rocks your boat, post it and link up – don’t forget to grab Xmas Dolly…er, um, I mean her button…over at her place here. Check out Xmas Dolly’s sidebar for the random themes we sport each week – and you can always ask for a specific theme of music you like, too. Check out the other music lovahs and let’s jam!



5 Comments

  1. Hey friend, love your selection today. Thank you for the feel goods this morning.Hope everyone is well on your side of the world.

    Love an Hugs!

  2. Stacy,

    Great mewsic! I really enjoyed Lee Brice and John Rich’s song picks. I hope you and your family are doing well. Have a boogietastic week, my friend!

  3. I’ve heard the Bon Jovi/Jennifer Nettles song; it hits me in the heart as a native of New York City. Pentatonix’s song at the beginning sounds so much like Enya’s Orinoco Flow; it is different than their usual music for sure. It was a nice selection.

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