One of the unsung heroes of the COVID pandemic was undoubtedly the children of the world, who were asked to make tremendous sacrifices for the collective good. Woolwich, ON folk artist Carla Muller understands this deeply. In her new song "The Last Two Years," she recognizes and pays tribute to the immense strength and resilience displayed by these young souls. More of her music will be available on her upcoming album In Between, the second installment in a six-part musical odyssey. Watch it on YouTube here:
"During these years, our kids were affected by isolation, fear and anxiety," says Muller. "This is for them, for all of the parents, like me, who watched their children’s world get smaller and smaller as the days wore on. And of course, this is for my own kids who stayed home to protect me because of my own health issues."
In December, Muller delighted listeners with her single "Snow Came Falling" and an accompanying album of the same name. She will be releasing her next four albums, Paper Stars, Bees Are Humming, In Spite Of Me, and Stones, over the next two years. "My health has taken a few hits since 2020, but I’m working to overcome all of that," Muller recalls. "Still, I kept going to my friends at Canterbury and for each new obstacle, I’d learn how to sing around it, and since I wasn’t yet getting the sounds I wanted from my voice and so many wonderful musicians were available to record, we just kept laying down tracks for me to sing to later. What started as one album turned into six."
In "The Last Two Years," Muller pours her heart into a musical expression of love to all the children whose lives were significantly disrupted by COVID, as well as a special dedication to her own kids who selflessly stayed home to protect her. She also speaks to the agonizing decisions so many families had to make:
I thought that the once the April rain would come
We’d all be free to live again
I was the reason that you had to stay apart
I was the one who broke your heart
"I can never repay my kids, wouldn't even know where to start, for I have seen first-hand just how deeply their time away from friends and their own lives has affected them," Muller says. “It came to me one day, all in a rush after a particularly heart-wrenching time with one of my girls. I'd have done anything, given anything to erase the pain that all of this has caused."
Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/track/7HkAzoVNfIhlu5iOkcH5FI?si=2be46dbaa7b94859&nd=1
“The Last Two Years” is out now, and In Between will be out this summer. Join Carla Muller on August 12 as she takes the stage for the second year in a row at the South Coast Jazz festival, where she will perform original songs from her upcoming collections alongside Mark Kelso.
