Wow! The right to choose … This morning, I was searching for something in my ‘Bookmarks’ when I came across the link to my Ode to Covid on YouTube. Every so often, I click on it to check whether it is still live. Seemingly so, I listen and watch, always astounded at how powerful it is. For me, it encapsulates that most scary of times; times which only warned of the path ahead.
As I write in the blurb below the YouTube video, the words were merely thoughts committed to ‘paper’ one Friday afternoon just before Christmas 2020. The repetition of ‘What happened to the right to choose? was completely involuntary, simply flowing, and it was, then, I realised that these seven words represented everything that was being taken from us. For, deprived of freewill, what are we?
My thoughts became words and those words, in turn, verses which took on a life of their own. I can never pay tribute enough to Beetle Campbell, the young Scottish filmmaker behind the video. How exciting it was, the afternoon we spent in his flat in Edinburgh, as I sat in front of the microphone reading aloud, with feeling! It was he, however, who chose the accompanying music and footage – with a soupçon of input – resulting in a little film with a big message, difficult to ignore. It was February 2021 when it was ‘released’ onto YouTube, credited to A Voice Outwith the Crowd. More than a little nervous, we held our breath awaiting its reception, in all honesty, expecting it to go viral … of which it was most definitely deserving. Naively, however, its fate lay in the title: Ode to Covid. My mistake. A red flag, it was immediately buried – as it is to this day. Uploaded two and a half years ago, its views number 909 – a travesty. Suitably intrigued? Please note, there is a link to the aforementioned on my home page on Instagram: trish_trash_blog.
I haven’t mentioned the pertinence of this subject … Today, I was alerted to the news of Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam’s recent appointment by vaccine giant, Moderna. Former Deputy Chief Medical Officer to our government during the pandemic, he was awarded the position of Moderna’s Senior Medical Consultant in May. So … he, who became a household name in light of his Covid updates to the nation, who endorsed the vaccine and its mandates – increasing the fear along the way – has now secured a lucrative position with one of Big Pharma. Makes sense, particularly in view of the fact that, last December, the Government signed a ten-year deal with said company to produce upwards of 250 million vaccines a year in the event of another pandemic. Another pandemic? Who could predict?! Thank heavens for experts in place with our best interests at heart …
Anyway, this led me to re-visit Ode to Covid. Haunting in tone, it warns of our greatest threat: the loss of free will; ‘the right to choose’. The pandemic may be over – for now – but the world we, once, knew is no more. Nothing is the same. Nothing ever will be again. The fear remains, the flames fanned, daily, by government and media. Anxiety and isolation abound as everyday human contact is slowly withdrawn. ‘Call that living?’. Our every move is monitored and, increasingly, restricted. ‘Controlled’ by those too corrupt to govern, normal – now – no longer exists. A swear word to aggressive minorities, fundamental rights are in disarray as our language is dismantled and our history re-written – all that we are; that which made us. For what purpose? Divide and conquer? Most prefer to turn a blind eye in favour of an easy life. However, the changes are insidious. So, it was that I decided to post the link to Ode to Covid on my Trish-Trash Facebook page today. One click and you will see: ‘This video isn’t available anymore’. Well, it is! There are no lies in Ode to Covid, merely observations, comment and, ultimately, a question … and, remember, those with nothing to hide have no fear of the truth.
‘Sheep, form a line, you have nothing to lose
But me? I was born to have the right to choose.’
A Voice Outwith the Crowd, Ode to Covid.
This is Trish, signing off.
