An art piece that has acted as a reality check of sorts for me is a song called Thoughts & Prayers by the artist grandson, it was written in response to the recent mass shootings throughout the United States specifically the Stoneman Douglas High shooting earlier this year. It is commonplace to post a variation of the phrase thoughts and prayers across social media after an incident such as this one, which in principle is an appropriate response however nowadays it seems to have become an alternative to actually discussing, combatting or taking action in any way, shape or form against this issue. This song shares the sentiment that although people saying thoughts and prayers is a nice gesture it is simply that, an empty gesture with no effect positive or negative or the events or as the chorus says; no thoughts, no prayers
can bring back what’s no longer there. This serves as a call of action of sorts as the singer also goes into detail about the corruption and how some politicians are more motivated by the money paid to them by the NRA (National Rifles Association) than protecting the lives of future victims of mass shootings.

I find this song particularly jarring as it opens with a chorus of children singing the chorus almost as a nursery of sorts, which to me highlights the fact that so many children have fallen victim to these shooting both directly and indirectly (through losing loved ones). The song also references a children’s lullaby ring a ring a roses with the line “ashes to ashes we all fall down”.This nursery rhyme on its own is rather morbid as it references the plague and the humongous death toll it had, and its use in this song, specifically the line about everybody dying, only furthers this.