Take 'Em Away

It's not the first time putting my music on random shuffle has enabled the synchronicity fairies to work their magic. Here's what popped up today.

Of course, what I immediately noticed was the corvid so prominently featured on the album art and in the band's name. (As for the rest of the band name, well, isn't "old ... medicine" more or less the opposite of a "novel ... virus"?) The chorus is consonant with the totalitarian conditions under which most of us are living in the post-birdemic world.

Take 'em away, take 'em away, Lord
Take away these chains from me
My heart is broken 'cause my spirit's not free
Lord, take away these chains from me

That relevance diminishes, however, as one listens to the verses, which make it clear that the "chains" refer to grinding poverty and the necessity of backbreaking work -- quite different from the current situation, where people are locked up at home and not allowed to work! Perhaps an entirely different song is more appropriate, as so many of us have been shanghaied into that infamous gang of scallywags, the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything,

Note: I should mention that I myself live in Taiwan, which is still a tolerably free country, and that my work has continued uninterrupted. I post this in solidarity with those who have not been so fortunate.