Among those who remember the social commentary of ‘60s and ‘70s music, there’s an ongoing trope that newer music isn’t topical in the same way. But in the early ‘00s, I was able to put together nearly 20 discs worth of songs commenting in some way (and from multiple viewpoints) on the Gulf War. Maybe there wasn’t a CSN&Y, “Ohio,” ripped from the headlines and challenging a standing president, but Black Eyed Peas’ “Where Is the Love” was pointed enough, and a career-making CHR hit at a time when the Dixie Chicks controversy had created a chilling effect elsewhere. If you weren’t able to hear the tenor of the times in early ‘00s music, it probably meant that you just weren’t hearing a lot of recent music.

I’m not finding a lot of time (or need) to burn CDs these days, but I’m already up to at least a second volume’s worth of songs that have some relevance to the COVID-19 pandemic. New ones arrive in the inbox daily. Other songs take on new import. Alicia Keys’ “Underdog” became a rare instance of a song reversing its chart decline at CHR and Hot AC after being exposed anew on the “Living Room Concert for America” and an Amazon Music spot.

I’m hoping that Kacey Musgraves’ “Rainbow,” the song most boosted by last weekend’s “One World: Together At Home” concert, will finally find its home at radio, particularly given the foothold it has already built with listeners despite minimal airplay. Musgraves’ early mentor, Miranda Lambert, was already negotiating the treacherous middle of the Country chart with “Bluebird,” but I’m finding that song helpful now as well.

It’s not hard to speak to anxious times because so many artists were already writing for them: Kelly Clarkson’s just-released “I Dare You” — the titular challenge is to love in a divisive world — or much of what was already on the Active Rock chart. THEORY’s “World Keeps Spinning” is a personal song about mental illness but resonates now. So is Grey Daze’s “Sickness,” climbing the chart now. The new song from Scott Stapp is called “Survivor,” while the one from his ex-Creed bandmates Alter Bridge is “Godspeed.” Alternative has songs that took on additional meaning as well, particularly Bleeker’s “Give a Little Bit More (Disaster).”

Powfu’s “Coffee for Your Head (Deathbed)” and JP Saxe f/Julia Michaels’ “If the World Was Ending” both predate the current crisis, but continue to grow. Both were covered in this column last week, including the intriguing parallels between “Deathbed” and the ‘70s pop lightning rod “Seasons in the Sun.”

Among those songs that have emerged since mid-March, speaking directly to the pandemic:

• Twenty One Pilots, “Level of Concern” – Probably the biggest multi-format song to emerge from the last few weeks, already top 10 at Alternative, top 20 Hot AC, and top 25 CHR.
• Billie Joe Armstrong, “I Think We’re Alone Now” – From his “No Fun Mondays” series of covers, it comes with its own Rorschach test: whether air personalities will identify it as a remake of Tommy James & the Shondells or Tiffany.
• Tyga x Curtis Roach, “Bored in the House” – The biggest Hip-Hop title thus far.
• Onerepublic’s “Better Days,” proceeds from which go to MusicCares’ COVID-19 Relief Fund.

In Country, Thomas Rhett is already in the top 25 with “Be a Light,” an all-star effort reminiscent of “We Are the World” (a song that has itself regained currency in recent week), and a special case of Country supporting a second current title from an artist who was already climbing the charts with another song. Luke Combs, also still climbing the charts with another song, hasn’t yet released the poignant “Six Feet Apart,” but it’s been getting significant play at a few major stations since being unveiled on a Facebook Live last week.

There’s a lot more in my e-mail. Those artists who’ve been writing social commentary since the era that Classic Rock fans cite are likely to weigh in, as they did during the early ‘00s. Randy Newman, known to this generation for “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” has returned to his original misanthropy for “Stay Away.” Neil Young has released the reworked “Shut It Down 2020.” Barenaked Ladies’ Steven Page has the (typically) deceptively jaunty “Isolation.”   Within 15 minutes of this column being published, there was also a new Rolling Stones single, “Living In A Ghost Town,” and a BBC Charity cover of the Foo Fighters’ “Times Like These,” featuring a wide range of artists from Coldplay’s Chris Martin to Dua Lipa.

Adult R&B radio had been drifting away from playing Gospel, particularly since the format’s major owners, Radio One and iHeart Radio, often had standalone Gospel stations. Since the pandemic, some stations report returning some of the biggest crossover songs of the late ‘90s/early ‘00s to the library. WBLS New York and WVAZ (V103) Chicago are playing Charles Jenkins & Fellowship Chicago’s “Keep the Faith,” while John P. Kee’s “I Made It Out” and Pastor Mike Jr.’s “Big” are also receiving Adult R&B airplay.

It’s hard to know what listeners want from music, especially when emotions have never been more mercurial. Do listeners want songs that directly address dark times? Or do they need the distractions of “Stupid Love” and “Toosie Slide”? Is “Be a Light” the song that will speak to Country listeners, or is Rhett’s other hit, which posits that there’s nothing “Beer Can’t Fix.” (The new Brad Paisley single, “No I In Beer,” sort of combines the two.) Very informally, I asked Twitter followers if they found all the new songs to be exploitative or helpful, but the largest number chose a third option, “ask me later.” We have nothing but feelings now, but less time to acknowledge them.

There’s also the question of whether any song will command enough attention from enough listeners to emerge as a collective anthem, especially at a time when contemporary formats were already heavily fragmented and diminished. It’s All-News FMs that are growing now, not music formats. Alternative and Active Rock have emerged as the formats where mental health is a regular lyrical topic. They could easily be an outlet for listeners’ fears and frustrations now, but they’ve operated away from the mainstream for a while. An act such as Twenty One Pilots that has access to pop radio is rare, but that may be why they have the best shot.