Ever wonder what HAL 9000 might look like on vacation? “Don’t Worry About It,” the new video from Dennis Ellsworth, features visuals from the National Music Centre in Calgary acting as as an analogue oscilloscope, while Ellsworth laments the state of the world.
Shot on Ellsworth’s iPhone, the video provides a simple, cheery, backdrop for a much less cheery subject matter. The orb of light bounces happily along, independent and blissfully ignorant of anything but Ellsworth’s song.
“I filmed the wall as I manipulated the visuals with hand movements,” says Ellsworth. “If I remember correctly, it was part of a sound and vision part of the museum. I spent the day there with my brother Gavin, his wife Marni, and their two kids, Everly and Arlo. We had a fantastic day.”
The song takes a tone at odds with its sentiments, and yet well suited to the mood behind it, and it’s a big one. Worldweary, “Don’t Worry About It” moves along at a relaxed saunter. Largely upbeat, Ellsworth’s exasperation comes through, but at a level that is well past the need to beat his chest any longer.
“‘Don’t Worry About’ is a strutting song. As I was writing this song in the middle of winter I was thinking about how much I love having a puff, putting my headphones on and bouncing around town, or taking a walk on the waterfront in Charlottetown, or through the woods in Victoria Park,” explains Ellsworth, and that’s where his happy thoughts end.
“The world is nuts right now and information is zooming. It’s difficult to process what’s happening and at some point, I basically decided that I wasn’t going to try to keep up anymore. I quit Twitter (absolute wasteland), and I limited my social media efforts to either funny or relevant. I started watching baking competitions and stopped watching shows about serial killers or kidnappers. It’s all so much.
“I always thought that as an adult, I needed to be up to speed on politics, current affairs, news cycles, blah, blah, fucking blah. As a child I didn’t give a shit about these things because I wasn’t constantly or even slightly exposed to it and I was happy, active, and saw the future as a wonderful thing. Innocence is a good thing to keep around if you can. It’s helped me get my state of mind back in order.
“Having a kid has given me a new view. I laugh out loud a lot. The silly idiot in me is back in a big way. I feel like I’m always trying to get my daughter to laugh. She reminds me on a daily basis that ignorance is bliss. I’m totally cool with it. I love not knowing what’s happening in great detail. Most of it is so dumb I can’t understand how that’s not the new story. It’s always reports of death, or crazy climate change like the Amazon burning, hurricanes, forest fires, and all I see is lack of action by politicians who are elected to protect the population but don’t give a shit. Andrew fucking Scheer is Lego haired Stephen Harper take two, and Donald Trump has no idea how to properly speak English, yet he’s President of the United States of America. It’s all meant to distract and numb us or freak us out and it should, it’s horrible stuff.
“Now, I’m not saying I don’t care. I’m not saying I won’t vote. What I am saying is I am not going to let it penetrate my psyche or bring me down. I’m not going to worry about it. I am going to put my headphones on and go for a walk and take in some really beautiful things while I am alive.”
After all, ignorance is bliss, but let’s maybe not indulge in that too much before the next election.
Dennis Ellsworth’s upcoming album Common Senseless will be released on September 27 via Pyramid Scheme Records.