Some writing to accompany a snippet of 'Hey Ooo' (a Halloween song)
31/10/23
‘Hey Ooo’ was written in early 2021. I was profoundly spooked and I wrote a song about it.
I was living rurally in the UK; on the outskirts of a small village. It had been winter for 5 months. It was a spooky place in winter; very flat and spacey and silent. The winds would whip through, screeching. Other-times, you could hear a pin drop. I was living alone. I can’t remember where in the trajectory of the pandemic we were but I had little contact with anyone. A few cars would whizz by occasionally and walkers would sometimes grace me with their movement outside the window. Still, I’d go for days without speaking to anyone in the flesh; without touch or the sound of close-by voices. In this strangeness, I became enthralled with the impact of voice, of word and image, and the significance of moments and actions that I’d previously taken for granted. With life so bare, everything held meaning.
At some point, writing songs no longer helped. It alleviated my tension momentarily but then the spooks returned. The words I’d sung or spoken, or those of others, would reverberate in my mind for hours, days, revealing layer upon layer of meaning. At first it was illuminating. Ultimately, it was unbearable and I sought help.
On the other side of that experience, I listen back to the songs I created. They are tokens from that time.
And so, here’s a snippet from a DIY version of ‘Hey Ooo’. It’s a song about a character who desires to check in with their friend after hearing they experienced ‘the spooks’. It aims to bring light and comedy to the situation. It also juggles the notion that it’s through challenging situations that we garner insight, with the lived experience that acute distress cares nothing for learning and even less for insight.
I share this song, and some of its background, in the hope that you will enjoy some fun story-telling, appreciate hearing about some of what incited the writing, listen to, watch or read more of my work, reach out to collaborate, or take part in one of my theatre and performance workshops.
Thank you for reading. As satisfying as it is to make things, it’s the sharing that becomes the thing. x x
© 2023 Leone White. All rights reserved.
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