“What will get me through this season of pain?” is the exact question I have been looking for the last few days. Loss, death, pain, and grief have been my guests since last fortnight. A friend, a brother gone too soon. Listening to the song, “When Did You Knock?” by Ho Jo Fro, feels like a gift from time’s synchronicity. Ho Jo Fro, aka Paul R Johnson, is a Charlottesville-based songwriter. Paul’s newest release, “When Did You Knock?” is an ode to the winding journey of accepting the pain of losing his sister far too early in this fleeting festival called life. The track is a midnight introspection on loss, the blue hour between living memories and credence.
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The sound of a cello is melancholic and sometimes even sombre, which aptly matches the theme of the song. Yet, noticeably, the vibe of the song is very festive. Paul’s voice carries a sense of elation from overcoming the cloud of grief that had been surrounding him since. There is joy, a relief, even freedom, that feels like a miracle. The melody, the cello fused with the chorus, and the pulse of the drum beats add up to create a cinematic collaboration. The song’s secret jewel is its cello, featuring Brianna Tam, whose resonance wraps itself around the melody.
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The unhinged grief that covers us in its most intolerable pain often numbs human senses. In the few hundred years, our world has gone through so much violence that even unimaginable crimes against humanity meet no empathy. Humans have become thick-skinned, selfishly numb till pain comes knocking on one’s door. “When Did You Knock?” is a song of hope. It made me realise that even in the noise and chaos of the outside world, we do not have to necessarily be lost and become numb from pain, and that it brings us closer to our most intimate selves.
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