Love In The Time Of Covid: A Lockdown Valentine From Danny Elfman

The Devil Card in tarot represents unbridled lust, addiction, and base instincts. The Rider-Waite representation depicts the ancient goat-god Dionysius on his throne, looming over a male and female held captive in chains. This is the general theme behind the new video for composer, singer, and songwriter Danny Elfman’s new song Love In The Time Of Covid. Throughout 2021, Elfman, whose surname means “Eleventh Man” in German, will continue to release songs on the eleventh day of each month.

The song is, in short, a frantic cry for sex and physical connection. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner…but instead of merry frolicking, we’re all imprisoned in our homes, ordering takeaway comfort food, lurking behind blue screens. Even in the Before Times, we longed for intimacy; for passion, but settled for the right swipe. Now, with social distancing, we’re virtually trapped in solitary confinement, hoping for recognition, brief flashes of affection substituting the melding of souls.

Elfman works the song into a near incantation to Dionysus himself, a chorus of deranged voices crying out their unfulfilled desires. In this short film, directed by German filmmaker/photographer Sven Gutjahr and Elfman’s creative director Berit Gilma, we see a facsimile of the horny beast rendered near-helpless in isolation, resorting to fantasy, Tinder, and a rampant libido held prisoner by the 24-hour news cycle. Filmed in Berlin, the video’s main character is played by Scottish transgender performer Shrek 666, and with character design that seemingly pays homage to the protagonist in Einstürzende Neubauten’s video for “Sabrina”. (Elfman also appears in a few surprise cameos throughout the video.)

“There’s certainly nothing light-hearted or funny about Covid, but I can still poke a little fun at the crazy way social isolation has changed our lives in every way shape and form,” says Elfman. “An expression of the borderline madness that so many of us have been experiencing. Lord knows I have. I wrote it from the view point of a young man going crazy in his apartment…many of us feel completely alienated in this insane new world we live in.”

Love In The Time Of Covid features vocals, guitars and synths by Elfman, drums by Josh Freese, guitars by Nili Brosh, bass by Stu Brooks, percussion by Sidney Hopson and strings by the Lyris Quartet.

Watch the video for “Love In The Time Of Covid”below:

Listen here: