It was at the Grammys broadcast in January 2018 where I saw the guy dubbed Logic perform the song 1-800-273-8255. Those digits represent the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. He talks about the creation of the message here, where he tries to assures his listeners “someone is there for them.”
The recording came out in late April 2017, the third single from Logic’s third studio album, Everybody. It eventually hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
What I somehow missed was that in August 2017, there was a seven-minute video. “The clip centers around a gay black teen (Coy Stewart, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) with a white boyfriend (Nolan Gould, Modern Family) coming to grips with his sexuality and his family’s reaction to it.”
Don Cheadle and Matthew Modine play the boys’ fathers, and Luis Guzman a coach at the teens’ school. Alessia Cara and Khalid, who are featured on the record, appear in the short film as well.
Where did I see this video? At church, of course. Since it was More Light Sunday, and the Albany Gay Men’s Chorus was providing the service music, I got a rare chance to attend the adult education class.
The conversation was about depression generally, then morphed into facts about suicide and the LGBT community. LGB youth contemplate suicide thrice as often, and attempt it five times as often as heterosexual youth. 40% of transgender adults reported having attempted suicide, the vast majority before the age of 25.
Watch 1-800-273-8255 here or here
Lyrics to the song by Logic (Sir Robert Hall II), 6ix (Arjun Ivatury), Alessia Cara (Alessia Caracciolo), Khalid (Khalid Robinson), and Andrew Taggart [of the Chainsmokers]
I’ve been on the low
I been taking my time
I feel like I’m out of my mind
It feel like my life ain’t mine
Who can relate?
I am somewhat distraught at how long it took me to realize that the “8255” part of the number stood for “TALK”.