Singled Out: HODJE's Voicemail For My Dad

Chicago-based indie pop artist HODJE (Maggie Young) just released her new single "Voicemail For My Dad" and to celebrate we asked her to tell us about the inspiration for the song. Here is the story:

"Voicemail for My Dad" is a song that I struggled to write for a long time. It's about an experience I had during college, when my building went into lockdown due to a nearby active shooter. I remember sitting with other students in a room, trying to stay quiet, not knowing what was happening or how serious it was, and feeling this overwhelming panic. I was texting friends and family. My dad was on a plane at the time, and I kept thinking about what I wanted to say to him in that moment of fear.

Nothing physically happened to me that day, and I carried a lot of internal conflict about whether I had the right to write about that kind of fear when others have experienced so much worse. Ultimately, what felt honest was focusing only on my own perspective, what it feels like to sit in that uncertainty, and what you want to say in moments of acute distress.

This song is a sister track to "An American Horror Story." While that song looks more broadly at the ways violence shows up in our culture, "Voicemail for My Dad" zooms in on one personal moment within that reality.

More than anything, this song is about love and who you think of when you're scared, and what you would want to say in those moments.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here

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