It has been over a month of staying in and working from home in order to save ourselves and the country from being badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Feeling desperate, those in self-isolation may be singing All By Myself by Eric Carmen, released in 1975. The younger generation may be more familiar of a cover of the song by Celine Dion, who incredibly hits the high notes in the chorus: "All by myself, Don't want to be all by myself anymore."
Other touching songs amid Covid-19 include See You Again by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth. The Furious 7 soundtrack begins with Puth crooning: "It's been a long day without you, my friend. And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again."
This relates very well to my current situation since I haven't met my friends and it's been a long month without them.
However, the crisis may actually be a blessing in disguise as the outbreak has allowed me to stay at home, be with my family, and take care of my 83-year-old mother 24/7 -- heeding physical distancing advice to keep the elderly safe.
The importance of family is even mentioned in the hook of See You Again as Khalifa belts out: "How could we not talk about family, when family's all that we got?"
The Covid-19 pandemic has actually, more than ever, brought the world together, as one big and interdependent family.
And there are no better words to express this than "We're all a part of God's great big family", taken from We Are The World, written by Lionel Richie and the late Michael Jackson.
Recorded in 1985, the smash hit also provides advice relevant to the current health crisis as the lyrics go: "There's a choice we're making, We're saving our own lives."
Collectively called USA for Africa, over 45 artists were involved in the charity song, instigated by Harry Belafonte to provide aid relief to Ethiopian famine victims. They included Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Tina Turner and Cyndi Lauper, to name a few.
Another all-star group did a remake, We Are The World 25 For Haiti, in 2010, in response to a devastating earthquake in the Caribbean country. Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Jennifer Hudson, Josh Groban and Adam Levine were among soloists and many other leading artists joined in singing the chorus.
In collaboration with ChannelAid and YouTube Music, a young generation of more than 30 artists covered the legendary song in 2018, at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles.
More recently on April 10, a new video of this group of YouTube artists showed them in self-isolation, singing We Are The World (2020)|Together At Home Edition. The beginning of the song emphasises heeding to a certain call -- in this case, Covid-19 -- when the world must come together as one.
This is exemplified by the music industry's biggest stars joining another collaboration, namely the One World: Together At Home campaign, launched by Global Citizen to support the World Health Organization in leading the fight against the pandemic and to raise money for its Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
The virtual concert united humanity at a time when many are in self-isolation and employed social media to bring musical performances into homes around the world.
The global broadcast and digital special features meaningful songs to support and honour frontline healthcare workers who are tackling the pandemic.
For example, I Save The World Today by Annie Lennox; Soon You'll Get Better by Taylor Swift; I'm Still Standing by Elton John; Smile by Lady Gaga; Lean On Me by Stevie Wonder; Stand By Me by John Legend and Sam Smith; and What A Wonderful World by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello
The artists performed from their homes to emphasise how staying inside can help keep themselves and others, including the critical healthcare workers, safe and alive.
Global Citizen is additionally calling on everyone to take action in our daily lives to reduce the impact of the novel coronavirus. Even more, it is raising the issue of equal healthcare across the world as otherwise, we all face the risk of another pandemic.
Kanokporn Chanasongkram is a feature writer for the Life section of the Bangkok Post.