Music has always been a constant in Brian Mackey’s life and with his latest single, “Keep The World Alive,” he was able to use a very difficult time to find some peace and new realizations.
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“It was this dream I had of the melody. I woke up and just started writing the words about how I thought things would change. It was just my way of saying this is where we’re at now and if we don’t give up hope, we can get through this.”
With the recent passing of his brother and all of the other bad things happening in the world right now, Mackey decided to use music as his outlet for everything he is going through.
“It was just all these things that were coming at once and the emotions were really high.”
Instead of trying to express his feelings by talking, he turned those emotions into lyrics for his music.
“Sometimes I don’t know where things come from or why, but I’m glad they did. I’m sad about my brother and I’m sad about the pandemic, but if there’s one good thing that gave me a little bit of hope, it was just writing a song that was about hope.”
One good thing that has already come from this song was an unexpected listener who saw something very special in it.
After hearing Mackey play the song online, the pastor up the street from him asked if he could use it at the end of his upcoming virtual mass. Mackey shared with American Songwriter that the request was very meaningful to him and it made him want to be more active in the church community.
“That was the most humbling thing in the world for me. I have been becoming more involved, just trying to make a difference and be a better person because of it.”
The music video for “Keep The World Alive” features nostalgic clips that gave the video a very comforting feel to it. It was a look into what life was like many years before COVID-19 hit, when people didn’t have to think about something as small as how problematic it could be to go to a buffet or drink out of a water fountain.
The end of the video features a message thanking all those working on the front lines around the world. This was a very personal touch for Mackey because his sister-in-law is a nurse.
“She was telling me the heartbreaking stories of people who couldn’t be there for people in the end and I’m thinking, ‘not only are these people putting themselves in harm’s way with the virus, they are also battering their emptions day after day.’ So I figured at the end to pay some respect to the people pulling us through this.”
Hear Mackey’s emotional words in the video down below:
