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Alaina Margaret Droog
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Follow Alaina Margaret Droog
Last month, I introduced you to Alaina Margaret Droog with her song “Rabbit Hole”. She’s an extraordinary artist whose personality shines through every line of her songs. With just a guitar and her voice, nothing more, she creates a raw and intimate sound. There’s a lot of breath in the background, but that’s part of the charm, proving that you don’t need bells and whistles to make beautiful music.
In her new song, “42,” Alaina goes even deeper into this personal and minimalist style. She explores a seemingly insignificant aspect of our daily lives: numbers. As she explains:
“Anyone who knows me knows that I like to share angel numbers (111, 222, 333) with those who are special to me in my life.“
When this special person was no longer in her life, she couldn’t escape seeing these numbers everywhere, especially ’42,’ which held a particular significance. We’ve all experienced this: a color, an object, or a number becomes a symbol of someone we’ve lost. Suddenly, we see it everywhere, our minds hyper-focused on these signs. It’s a purely psychological phenomenon. Our brains, conditioned by nostalgia, make us notice these things more than we ever did before.
So, what do we do when everything reminds us of someone we’ve lost? Alaina suggests a powerful approach: taking off the “rose-colored glasses and realizing everything wasn’t quite as wonderful as it seemed”, as she says. It’s a first step toward healing, a way to face reality.
There’s a lot of poetry and authenticity in this track. Everyone can interpret these numbers in their own way. I must admit, that I’ve always been fascinated by numbers and coincidences. My calendar is full of “chains of events”: birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries that seem to cluster together. And then, there are long stretches of nothing.
Like many people, I have numbers associated with specific people, memories, and stories. Alaina has beautifully written about this attachment we form to these seemingly insignificant details.
It’s a unique songwriting topic, one I’ve never encountered in over 20,000 submissions. And she does it so well, with such honesty and emotion, especially in her incredible voice. I tip my hat to this talented artist!
