As you may have read on Slog yesterday, in light of everything happening around us, we're not starting the day with news on Slog right now. We are overwhelmed by news. We need something other than news to start the day.
What we need is hope. We need connection. We need a reminder of what's good about being alive. Beginning now, and continuing every day until the human condition improves, we're presenting a message of hope, a message to the whole city, from someone who has a gift to share.
Today's message to the city comes from Ben Gibbard, the lead vocalist and guitarist of Death Cab for Cutie.
"I know this is a really fucked up and scary time for everybody, including myself," he says in his message. "And I know that we're all trying to figure out what we can do to make it better, or what we can do to alleviate the suffering of someone else."
If you live in Seattle and want to do something helpful during this crisis, but you don't have money to donate, Ben has another idea, another way you can help.
But first, here he is performing "Life in Quarantine," a song he wrote ten days ago.
Ben is also performing a livestreamed concert from his home every day at 4 p.m. on Youtube and Facebook.
Gibbard is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and Seattle resident. He is the lead vocalist and guitarist of the Grammy-nominated band Death Cab for Cutie, with which he has recorded nine studio albums, and is one half of the electronic duo the Postal Service. Gibbard released his debut solo album, Former Lives, in 2012, and a collaborative studio album, One Fast Move or I'm Gone (2009), with Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt's Jay Farrar.
If you have a spare sleeping bag or tent that you don't need that you're willing to donate to people who don't have places to live right now, here's that address again where you can drop them off:
The Aurora Commons c/o
Lisa Etter-Carlson
927 N. 89th St
Seattle WA 98103
Thank you for this idea, Ben. And thank you so much for sharing this song with us.
Good luck in quarantine today, everyone.
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Also in this series:
