The Harvard Business Review has released an article about loneliness, and describes it in dire terms. “There is good reason to be concerned about social connection in our current world. Loneliness is a growing health epidemic. We live in the most technologically connected age in the history of civilization, yet rates of loneliness have doubled since the 1980s. Today, over 40% of adults in America report feeling lonely, and research suggests that the real number may well be higher. Additionally, the number of people who report having a close confidante in their lives has been declining over the past few decades,” reads the article.

Talib Kweli Discusses Digital Media’s Role In Shifting Discourse To Disagreements (Video)

Over the last few years, those feelings of loneliness have only been exacerbated. No matter the group it feels like tensions are at an all-time high, whether it be between Republicans and Democrats, Blacks and Whites, Christians and Muslims, Millennials and older generations, ballplayers and owners or any long list of factions that seem to be warring. The article asserts that if people cannot rebuild strong, authentic social connections, they will continue to splinter apart, and “instead of coming together to take on the great challenges before us, we will retreat to our corners, angry, sick, and alone.”

Through the ages, music has shown itself as one of the most powerful forces in bringing people together and healing them. It is often the glue that binds, everywhere from churches to coliseums, and everyone from pastors to politicians use it to bolster their messages. In a week of mass protests in the NFL, catastrophic destruction and crisis in Puerto Rico and the continued specter of war with North Korea, Talib Kweli has stepped up with some inspirational music for those who feel like they are awake, but living in a nightmare.

On “Heads Up Eyes Open,” Kweli recruits Rick Ross and singer Yummy Bingham for a song that soars. Featuring a piano, trumpet and glorious choir, the song finds Kweli offering up words of wisdom and reinforcement. “A wise man know what he know and what he doesn’t / If he’s not really sure what he’s saying, he don’t discuss it / A righteous man walks the Earth without judgement / And loves his enemies enough to deliver justice,” he raps. When Kweli returns for his second verse, he gives some words of encouragement to those who feel drained, and reassures them that they are not crazy. “No excuses. If I start it, then I see it through / God is what I see in you, so you might as well believe in you / Think what you see on TV’s true? The media deceiving you / They misrepresenting, misquoting and they misleading you.” In a world of madness, often all it takes is another voice of reason to let us know we’re not alone.

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“Heads Up Eyes Open” is the latest single from Kweli’s forthcoming new album, Radio Silence (November 17).