“So much sorrow, so much dying”—this is how many of us will remember 2020.

John Fogerty managed to put the hardships, challenges, and emotions of 2020 into one song. Watching the video feels like traveling back in time and invites us to go through all the feelings we experienced last year.

We cannot heal without processing our past, and Fogerty’s song offers exactly that.

As we look forward to a new beginning, we cannot deny the pain we went through in 2020. Fogerty’s song, “Weeping in the promised land,” invites us to mourn but gives us hope at the same time.

The song reminds us of our shared suffering and hope for better times. It doesn’t come from a place of anger, but love—and that is what we all need right now.

We can do better, and we will. 2021 is our chance to make things right again.

Poetry, art, and music can help us to overcome the darkest year of our lives. This video might be just the beginning of that.

2020 has been a difficult year for performing artists, as their services to humanity were not considered essential. I believe that this will change in 2021 and “Weeping in a promised land” is just the beginning of that process.

Artists are the doctors and nurses for our souls—and, therefore, essential.

Every word that is written, every melody that is sung, and every painting that is drawn have the power to heal us.