Learning from the COVID-19 Crisis: Records of Thoughts and Emotions in Creative Perpetuation of Contemporary Thai Songs

Abstract

This research examines people’s expressions of emotions and feelings and communication of messages and perspectives about life, society, and needs during COVID-19 in Thailand through 259 Thai songs of various genres (country, pop rock, rap and so forth) on YouTube, collected between February 2020 and May 2021. Through qualitative coding and the theory of creative perpetuation, the author discovered that during the pandemic, contemporary Thai songs broadcast on social media were used as a creative outlet to express fear, anxiety and distress in the midst of the crisis, to share love, care and discontent, to relate solitude, sorrow, sadness and dejection, to project hostility towards the disease, to reveal boredom and to articulate humour. As a whole, the messages of the songs focused on preventing infection, enhancing moral support, warning against danger, honouring and showing gratitude to healthcare workers, and promoting vaccination. Moreover, the songs depict COVID-19 as a destructive force to humans, one that affects jobs and financial stability, so Thais should join forces to combat the threat and cultivate a charitable mindset. In addition, some of the songs call for the country’s leaders to listen to the suffering of the people, and some were prayers to holy beings to eradicate the malicious disease. Finally, the songs also reflect problems in state management of the virus, online education, and life under the new normal for students and teachers. Altogether, the crisis posed challenges for Thai lives, and the songs were used to convey optimism that Thailand would be able to overcome the pandemic in the long run.