Behind the Song - Viral Apocalypse

Dive into the meanings and inspirations behind the new Hey Imagine track 'Viral Apocalypse' released on all platforms on April 3rd, 2020, and playlisted on Spotify's 'New Music Fridays South Africa'.

The day after releasing our debut single as Hey Imagine, 'Shelf' (links available on our homepage), in mid-March, the President of South Africa prepared us to enter a national quarantine, followed by a national lockdown. Over the next number of weeks, we discovered that we'd soon be unable to see one another, which was pretty bloody horrible because we're all clingy as hell to one another, so Jono wrote a song called 'Viral Apocalypse'. It's a song about taking your opportunities, being honest with the ones you have feelings for, and trying to make decisions that you won't regret later.

“I got an offer and, It probably ends tomorrow”

We spoke to our songwriter and resident sad-boi Jono, who wrote the track, about the inspirations, feelings, and meanings behind this tune.

Hey Imagine: Tell us about the origin of the song? How did it come about, what inspired you?

Jono: 'Viral Apocalypse' came from me being at home just like everyone should be. I had run out of YouTube videos to watch and decided to write a song. I'd realised that nothing significant had happened that I could write about other than the entire world shutting down, so I decided to sing about that.

I realised that I was getting quite lonely in my bed room and that it would be very nice if I had a special someone (a 'quaranita', as Hugo might say) to share the isolation with. So I reminisced on all the times I couldn’t quite muster up the courage to tell a girl how I felt, and wrote about how if I knew that the world was going into a (hopefully hypothetical) apocalypse, I would have probably confessed my love with much less hesitation.

HI: What is the overarching message of the song?

J: The overarching message of the song is that you should never wait to show love to people, because you never know when that opportunity might expire and you will definitely regret procrastinating telling them for the rest of your life.

HI: Who is this track written for?

J: This track is written for everyone who is secretly in love with someone and for everyone who, maybe unknowingly, takes their most valuable relationships for granted. This song is written for everybody.

HI: What's your favorite lyric in the song?

J: My favourite lyric is definitely,

“Keep the mask on, baby, lose the clothes”

I just feel really cool when I say it.

HI: What makes you proudest about this song?

J: I am extremely proud that I managed to write and record this song in one day. It usually takes far longer, but since I had nothing else to do and no videos to watch, I klapped it out like something else the buggas have been up to far too often in quarantine, if you know what I mean ;p (insert a wink here).

If you haven't yet, we think you should go check out our new single, 'Viral Apocalypse'. You can find it on Apple Music here or on Spotify here. Otherwise, search for it on your favourite platform. If you have already listened to it, thanks! Regardless, you should give it a play right now, because clearly the good people at Spotify think so, as does Texx and the City - you can read their review of our tuneski here. With your newfound knowledge of the meaning behind the song, let us know what you think, and if you're feeling the same vibes! Pop us a message (and a follow whilst you're at it) on Instagram here, we'd love to hear what you think of the song!