Artist: Matthew Barber
Hometown: Toronto
Song: “No Singing or Dancing”
Album: No Singing or Dancing
Release Date: July 22, 2022
Label: Outside Music
In Their Words: “The title came from a proclamation by the city of Toronto sometime during the early stage of the pandemic in 2020 that temporarily forbade these activities at public gatherings. The starkness of this message really struck me and it immediately felt like the title of a song I had to write. Up until then I had been thinking about the lockdown as a medical matter — people were getting sick from a highly infectious virus and we had to avoid contact with one another. But seeing the words ‘no singing or dancing’ led to the unsettling realization that certain activities were more likely to result in spreading the virus than others, and the worst activities were the ones that my livelihood as a musician depended upon! I started to see the wider cultural implications and how they disproportionally affected cities. The city loses a lot of its appeal if you take away all the bars and restaurants and theatres and sports arenas. Ultimately the song is hopeful that this is merely a storm we have to weather and the singing and dancing and merriment will return. It seems to be, slowly, but some things will never quite be the same.” — Matthew Barber
Photo Credit: Ian Lake
