Today, September 10, is World Suicide Prevention Day, and Demi Lovato and Marshmello have decided to help promote the cause with a new single, “OK Not To Be OK.”
The track goes from melancholy to joyful in the hook, on which Lovato sings, “When you’re high on emotion / And you’re losing your focus / And you feel too exhausted to pray / Don’t get lost in the moment / Or give up when you’re closest / All you need is somebody to say / It’s okay not to be okay.”
Sharing the track, Lovato wrote, “Take a moment today to check in with yourself and your loved ones.”
Marshmello spoke about the track with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and discussed releasing the song on World Suicide Prevention Day:
“I think it’s just such an important subject. I think a lot of people, about negative feelings and negative thoughts that are affecting them are kind of scared to bring it up, scared to talk about it. When in reality, they’re scared because maybe the person won’t relate or the person won’t understand, when in reality most of time the person that you could bring it up to, will most likely has felt like this or will understand or can relate as well. So I think it’s very important to talk about it.”
He also discussed how he and Lovato came to work together, saying:
“I met Demi, I think four years ago. I actually played a party or something for her a while back and before I went on. It was at a hotel in LA, and I went upstairs and met her before and all that stuff. And so we’ve known each other since then. So this collaboration has… because we would always say, ‘Hi at award shows and all that… so this collaboration has kind of been just in the works, I would say, since we met about four years ago.
[…] So she did the song and then I got it, and it was just kind of piano and that’s about it. And so then I was like, ‘How can I create an instrumental, instruments, that compliment the emotion of the song?’ So in the beginning it’s very slow and stuff, so I made the instrumental very slow. And then during the hook, which is the resolve of the song, I kind of picked it up with the energy and it’s kind of like a little dance tune.
I think that was a huge driving force in making the song, as well, as there was only one way the song could be. And so I spent a long time trying to find that exact moment where I was like, ‘Oh, OK, this is exactly how the song should sound. This is how it makes me feel.’ So it was just kind of like emotion turned to music in a way.”
Ahead of the track, Lovato announced a partnership with online therapy platform Talkspace, writing on Instagram, “So proud to announce my partnership with @talkspace. In case you aren’t familiar, Talkspace is an online therapy platform that will connect you with a licensed therapist from the comfort of your phone. Therapy has saved my life in so many ways, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without it. There’s so much going on in the world right now, so we need to be taking care of ourselves and those around us. Talkspace is such an incredible organization and I can’t wait to share more info soon.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CE6zStnh9Sv/
Watch the “OK Not To Be OK” video above.
