Siv Jakobsen’s “Fear the Fear” is a Vulnerable and Honest Meditation on Weathering the Personal Storm of Anxiety and Insecurities

SivJakobsen_FearTheFear1_lg — Siv Jakobsen, photo courtesy the artist

On her single “Fear the Fear,” Siv Jakobsen bares the tension between the anxiety and fear that rattle her psyche and their twin ability to fuel the subject matter of her songwriting. She sings “Shake it off, I can’t, I won’t. ‘Cause what would I write about if I don’t fear the fear inside my bones” and evokes another layer of anxiety regarding losing the personal demons that she fears define what seems like an important, and even core, aspect of her identity. In the music video she dons a head lamp, like a personal beacon of hope, and walks through the darkness of that moment looking fearful and nervous but moving forward as wind-like drones swirl in the background, her strong yet delicate vocals provide a focus in the song as though talking herself through the times when that colossus of nerves threatens to overwhelm her. Anyone that has been through that battle themselves can hear their own struggle with no permanent resolution on the horizon in Jakobsen’s song and while the song offers no shallow, pat answers in its gentle guitar melodies and the soothing vocals there is the unspoken will to be calm and patient with oneself until the wave of self-eroding emotional energy passes. Watch the video for “Fear the Fear” on YouTube, follow Siv Jakobsen at the links provided and look out for the songwriter’s new full-length A Temporary Soothing, due out April 24 on U OK?