Are We Alright Again
by Eels

Album: Earth to Dora (2020)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Eels main man Mark Everett kick-started the songwriting for the Earth to Dora album with a text message thread to the band's lighting director Dora (hence the record's name). He continued writing collaboratively with other members of Eels, and by the time the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he had completed all but one track. This is the only song Everett wrote during the coronavirus lockdown.
  • The song finds Everett detailing his post-pandemic plans. He told NME:

    "In the early days when it was really getting bad for the first time. It's kind of like a quarantine daydream that I desperately needed to have. It's my fantasy of 'Oh, it's all over and now we can go out and do stuff!' It got a little extreme in my case, I'd go out and get high with birds and there's a marching band marching through the middle of the outro. I couldn't wait to try to make people feel a little more hopeful for the future. There's no time to wait."
  • Everett told UK newspaper The Sun he has faith in the post-Covid future: "History has always had periods where everybody says: 'this is the worst period in history.' And then it gets better. I have to believe it will do that."
  • Greg Barnes directed the video, which stars Mad Men's Jon Hamm as "a typical Eels fan finding solace in Eels' music." The one-take clip features the actor getting so lost in the music that he doesn't clock a robbery taking place directly behind him.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."