Songfacts®:

• "What To Do" tells a story of someone who is feeling lost and hopeless, but eventually becomes empowered and picks themselves back up. The lyrics do a great job of expressing these contradicting feelings, illustrating a clear journey from "what to do with these blues, feel like I'm coming loose," to the chorus, "I'm gonna get it right this time, get up and see the sun, learning to shine again." The melody also switches between a minor and major sound, making this contrast even clearer.
• Bandits On The Run use alter egos; Sydney Shepherd, who plays cello, banjo and other instruments in the band, goes by Bonanza Jellyfish. She told the Backstory Song podcast about this song: "I was like in my early 20s writing the song, where I felt very frustrated. I feel like a few of my songs come from a place of frustration, which is strange, but just like feeling a little worn down and unsure of the direction that I wanted to take and being like, not a great person because of it. I felt like I was sort of like climbing up a wall and like falling back down again so many times. That sort of damages your generosity of spirit. So this song was sort of like a pledge to myself to like when it's like:
  
  I'm going to get it right this time with love
  No jealousy or spite this time
  
  Like - get up. It's a song to myself, honestly."
• The group performed this at the Sundance ASCAP Music Café during the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. This was one of their biggest moves yet - performing amongst seasoned artists such as Aaron Lee Tasjan, Rain Phoenix, and Matt Berninger of The National. From this, they were selected for SXSW (The South by Southwest) 2020 Conference & Festivals. This included opening for Larkin Poe, as well as performing at world-renowned venues such as Lincoln Center and Webster Hall in New York City. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic hit before SXSW took off, but their promotion from the festival had gained attention. One who took notice was Ryan Hadlock, producer for The Lumineers, Vance Joy, Brandi Carlile, Johnny Flynn, and many others. This connection helped the band continue to establish their name in the music industry.