SECRET FOR THE MAD
Student thoughts about the song and the process
Hearing each other together was really heartwarming and emotional because it helped me realize that even though we are physically apart, we can still connect through creating music together and make an amazing choir.
I think I and many others feel pretty isolated right now, but the compilation made me feel together with this choir again.
Ava M
Secret for the Mad is a song about hope. Mental health, although often a taboo topic in our society, is such an important thing to talk about and support, especially during these troubling times.
During this time, Secret for the Mad is a song about finding light in such a dark time. It tells the listener to lean on their loved ones and reach out if they need help. The song itself is beautiful in its simplicity and is filled with emotion and meaning. Listening to the piece was incredible because it sounded like we were together, even when we are all so far apart.
Blu S
Secret for the Mad is meant to inspire hope and forward thinking in its listeners. The lyrics express a feeling of desire and belief in a future of healing and positivity, at the same time validating and recognizing that pain is real and allowed.
Sarah P
Secret for the mad in my view is about not being okay but being okay with that because "there will be a day when you can say you're okay and mean it." There are bad things in life that might not make sense in the moment, but it in the end it will make sense and when you will get through it and that situation will make you stronger. It's a song about looking at the good side and having hope.
Crystal K
Learning, singing, filming, and listening to this song made me feel more connected to our choir and community as a whole. After being away from school for months, isolated at home, finally hearing all of our voices blend together almost made me cry. Although we can’t physically be close together at the moment, our voices connect us through our music. There is no group I would rather be a part of right now, and this song almost feels like we are singing to each other, “in a little bit of time it won’t hurt so bad”.
Piper H
Secret for the mad to me is about how much chaos we have going on right now and that we have to remember that it will all be better again and like the song says make sense.
The lyric "It will all make sense again" is the one that stands out the most to me. Not only do we sing it at the end but we sing it in unison which makes me hopeful that the world we live in right now will go back to "normal" and we will be done with all the crazy.
Hearing the choir together is super exciting in a time where we haven't seen each other in months. It made made me a little emotional because I didn't think we would be able to sound that good apart and I wasn't even sure if we were going to be able to do choir this year.
The process was different than a normal year. We usually practice a lot in class and slowly build on to parts, but this year I had to listen to it a lot more and worked on the whole song instead of sections at a time. Recording it was a little hard too because I wanted it to be perfect and have no cuts. I realized later that that didn't matter.
Alexa P
"And there will be a day when you can say you're ok and mean it" is a line of the song that really stood out to me. It reminds me that pain is temporary, whether it's physical or mental. No matter how dark things may seem now, there is always light at the end of a long night and warmth at the end of a cold winter.
Aria L
Hearing the group together for the first time this year was kind of incredible because it has been a really, really long time since I have sung with a large group or been able to perform with a choir (since February). It makes me hopeful that maybe we will have a vaccine and be able to make such beautiful music with our group together again and share that unmatched feeling of community, excitement, and adventure of the process of learning and performing a new piece together.
Sarah P
Piper H
"Secret for the Mad" has helped me experience a variety of emotions. It is melancholy and allows me to feel all the emotions that have been crashing down on me this past year, such as uncertainty, longing, sadness, and nostalgia. For me, it feels deeper than what is evident, the fact that we're all trapped inside our homes in this pandemic. Even more than that, we're trapped in our minds and it is hard for days to have meaning and life to feel worthwhile. This song is about mental health, and how things will get better. A line that really resonated with me was "And there will be a day, when you can say you're okay and mean it," because I feel like I am constantly saying I'm okay and I know others are doing the same when, really, we're not. I hope someday in the future, we can mean it. Working on this piece was hard in the way that it felt lonely not having other people to practice with, but the feeling I got when all the voices came together made up for that. When I heard the whole choir singing this song for the first time, it filled me with warmth. It just felt like I was receiving a big hug, which has been hard to come by for a long time. It felt so special that we were able to come together through this platform and lift each other's voices up.
Tessa L
The Secret for the Mad means that in a little bit of time, it won't hurt so bad. It can be hard to believe, especially in times of burden, but we will make it out of this. It makes me think that everything will somehow turn out okay. It uplifts my spirits and gives me hope.
Making this song was a moving experience in the most literal of terms. Even though we cannot be together physically, we always will be in spirit.
Love is not something that just disappears.
Aaron A
It was really amazing to hear the choir perform together virtually. That we were able to do so reveals that even if the world does not return to a state of normalcy immediately, we can still accomplish our goals. Even if the new normal is different, it will still "all make sense again".
Hyrum Yeates
This song is about hope and knowing that it's okay not to be okay sometimes. It's about taking the time to get better even if it might take a while or if it's hard. Mental health is super important and it's important to take care of ourselves and one another.
Aynslee T
To me Secret for the Mad means to bring light during a dark time. It is easy to let everything cave in and consume you, but with hope, you can believe that in the end, it will all make sense again.
This song did just that for me and helped me bring a more optimistic view under our circumstances. Music helps us all connect and express emotions we cannot communicate. I think this song helped express how we might feel like we are alone and no one will understand, but people love you no matter what and will stand by you till you can stand by yourself again.
Nina H
Secret for the Mad is a song about hope and change, and it's so relevant when the world is in a dark place. Mental health is a hugely important topic right now that I think isn't receiving enough attention, because we're all concerned with staying physically healthy. Even while recording I've had a lot of technical difficulties, which feels so accurate in its irony given that we're all being forced to live a somewhat dysfunctional digital life. The world has been through some huge huge changes this year that have been impactful with my mental health, so hearing this song gave me some hope, and hearing our voices together again made me feel less alone.
Lucy F
Getting to hear our choir sing together for the first time this year was an incredibly powerful moment. Singing in choir has always made me feel a deeper connection with those singing around me, and missing that in online choir has been challenging. However, getting to hear everyone sing together helped me feel that connection again. It reminded me that even though we are apart right now, we are a still united group that supports each other - even if it is from afar.