Daughter’s “Doing the Right Thing”
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It’s no new phenomenon that music has the ability to express inner thoughts and feelings that words can’t. When language is no longer enough, music is there to make sense of it all, and Daughter’s ability to harness the power of music to reflect indescribable emotions is no small feat.
If you are unfamiliar with the English indie folk band, Daughter, and have a strange love for atmospheric sounds accompanied by somber lyricism, I highly recommend this band.
With their almost too-personal lyrics that make the listener feel intrusive, they remind one of one’s own fragile and vulnerable humanity. And while their atmospheric sounds that are sure to send one down into a mournful sublime, one is left being assured that pain is universally felt.
In 2016, the band released their highly anticipated sophomore album, Not to Disappear, which kept true to the bands sound. The third most popular track on the album, “Doing the Right Thing,” which has a play number of 15,849,480 on Spotify, is one of the band’s masterpieces as lead singer, Elena Tonra, assumes the identity of the mentally ill struggling with the effects of dementia.
While the song is incredible from start to finish, I will focus fifth verse (3:30) that exhibits Daughter’s incredible ability to describe with music. The verse reads:
I have lost my children
I have lost my love
I just sit in silence
Let the picture soak
Out of televisions
Out of televisions
Out of televisions
Out of televisions
Out of televisions
While the verse is repetitive, the act of repetition can not only reinforce concepts, but also bring greater intensity and focus to the words being said. It’s also at this time in the piece that there is an abrupt stop of all instruments with the exception of the solo guitar that help guide the focus and power to the words. With the lyrics being changed from present to past in this verse — “Then I’ll lose my children / Then I’ll lose my love” (sung in the first verse), to “I have lost my children / I have lost my love” — reveals the end result of neurodegeneration of what was and has come.
In this section, Daughter also proves that non-lyrical music can express more than words. While the verse starts from a simple guitar riff that builds into a chaotic collage of sounds, it then cascades into a sound that mimics static. It’s this static sound that brings to life the image of one suffering with dementia staring at a television without retaining its content while also mirroring the mental state itself.
Sad music isn’t for everyone and oftentimes I am asked why it appeals to me. My answer is because it reminds me that sadness is felt by everyone, and that itself brings me a sense of comfort as I realize that everyone has the choice to empathize suffering to bring closeness rather than isolation.
Rebecca is world-traveler whose experience has allowed her to understand cross-cultural communications and diversity first hand. Skilled in Photography, Editing, and Creative Writing with a Bachelor of Arts focused in English Language and Literature from Rowan University, she is currently a contributor to First Icon Agency's blog.