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Hear Sharon Van Etten's Tribute To The Orlando Shooting Victims

Sharon Van Etten.
Laura Crosta

Sharon Van Etten has released a new song she wrote in memory of the victims of the June shooting at Orlando's Pulse nightclub. "Not Myself" is a gorgeous, haunting elegy, with Van Etten's voice layered over simple piano and a droning synth. "It's too much to take," she sings. "It's too much at stake. I want you to be yourself around me."

"I was home with my parents in New Jersey when I heard of the shooting," Van Etten says in a prepared statement. "Hate, violence and intolerance has [sic] always upset me, but I haven't been this overwhelmed with sadness and disbelief in a long time. The victims were only trying to be themselves and be comfortable and safe in their surroundings. That safety was violated out of fear and with a gun."

"Not Myself" is available on Van Etten's Bandcamp page.

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Robin Hilton is a producer and co-host of the popular NPR Music show All Songs Considered.
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