There’s plenty happening the world right now to send a shiver down your spine. With the convergence of a global pandemic, fires and floods, military conflicts, mass shootings, and the erosion of personal rights, it’s normal to harbor a degree of fear and anxiety. But there’s also the danger of those emotions being exploited.
“‘Fear and Anxiety” is a song about that core fight or flight response we’ve had since we were being chased around by the dinosaurs,” explained Fremantle-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, Dave Johnson. “For most of us it’s very much a survival instinct, but for some people it’s something they can take advantage of.”
“Fear and Anxiety” is the second Johnson’s forthcoming album Inequality Blvd. The song explores how one of the intrinsic survival instincts we all have can be weaponised against us. Johnson points to the political and financial arenas as a perfect example of that.
“You don’t have look any further than the political or financial sectors to see how people can capitalise upon our fear and anxieties,” Johnson continued. “There’s the classic Wall Street saying that the market is driven by two forces – fear and greed. And then you have disaster capitalist who move in to countries that are on their knees with the goal of simply making money.”
Arising from very personal origins, “Fear and Anxiety” makes a global statement about the shift away from critical thinking where agendas can profit from our fear. It’s a song for the times.
“When you look at what’s going on the world at the moment, even things like conspiracy theories run rampant because they play on people’s fear and anxiety,” Johnson said. “They’re not based on expertise or fact. They bypass all of that and tap straight into our emotions to try to manipulate us. We see that all around us right now.”
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