Existentialism is the school of philosophy I usually ascribe to myself, perhaps because it makes it easiest to explain why for art thou existential crisis walks the halls of my mind. I'm not above having them, and to be perfectly honest, VK Lynne's third song of this year triggered a relapse of the one that dragged me down into the murky depths for a solid part of last year.
"There Is Nothing" sees VK recruit Joel Hoekstra (from countless bands) and Marco Pastorino (from Temperance) to make a big song even more massive, attempting to see if collaboration can grow talent exponentially. Art may not be math, but often the vectors are pointing in the same direction, and one and one and one can indeed make three. Wait, I haven't even gotten to the song yet and I've referenced existentialism and vector math? Good grief.
VK opens the refrain singing "there is nothing that's beautiful" anymore. It certainly can feel that way at times, and perhaps it would lead you to think I should have led off talking about nihilism instead, but that's too cynical a view even for this curmudgeon. Why? Because when you listen to VK and Marco blend their voices, there is absolutely something beautiful about the way in which people can come together to make something beyond themselves. Two great voices that mesh as if they were meant to exist together are a bit of magic, and there's nothing wrong with that magic being the only thing we feel comfortable praying to, and putting our faith in.
The world can feel like it's on fire, and none of us are able to put it out on our own, but what we can do is coat ourselves in a layer of protection. That's what art is for. If we subsume ourselves in art and beauty, we essentially wrap a candy coating around the bitter pill of life, ensuring the memories of smiles are able to survive the acid bath of our minds.
It comes as no surprise that as VK opines on the sorry state of the world, she is backed by the heaviest accompaniment of her career. The guitars are a thick soup, the kind that isn't so much angry but simply 'over it'. Likewise, it isn't until the end of the song that VK starts projecting, but even then it's with a sense of exasperation, as if it's hard to believe we are still fighting the same ugly parts of our nature without learning anything from the past.
When she talks about there being nothing worth praying for, it's as easy sentiment to understand. 'Thoughts and prayers' are constantly offered by people of faith who seem unaware of the teachings of their own God, and surely no one seems to be listening. They don't see the connection between those two points.
VK and Marco play the angel and demon of our conscience, but this time both sides are telling us the same thing; if there is going to be a happy ending, we have to make it for ourselves. And so we cycle back to existentialism, which tells us life is as we make it, that our experiences are the truth we must be most concerned with. That truth becomes easier to swallow when we have friends who care about us, who can come to our aid when we need it, and who can simply make things better by being there and not letting us feel so isolated.
That's the lesson "This Is Nothing" is imparting, at least as I see it. Even when you can do things on your own, there's something special about collaboration, about opening yourself up to the possibilities other people can bring to your ideas. VK could have recorded this song on her own, but Marco's voice and Joel's guitar solo add elements and textures that feel necessary, and that remind us the way we're feeling is more universal than we often realize. When the chorus comes in, and the melody has an oddly soothing effect, it's very much an assurance that the human experience is shared, we just get so wrapped up in ourselves we forget that fact.
Collaboration can sometimes be cheap stunt-casting to get undeserved attention, but that's not what's going on here. The difference is clear when you bring in someone who shares your vision and wants to help you bring your vision to life. Those are friends, the kind it's rare to find. I say that from experience, since I'm not sure how many I've ever had. And there's that existential crisis again.
As Barney Stinson put it on 'How I Met Your Mother'; "Whatever you do, it isn't legendary unless your friends are there to see it."
That's why some of us are forgotten in our own time, as if our stories are written in the sand minutes before the next high tide rolls in, while others are painting thick memories of pink through our grey matter. Legend.... wait for it.... dary indeed.
"There Is Nothing" releases on March 22nd. Pre-save it here.
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