Sometimes, it’s not to feel nostalgic, you go there to drown your sorrow and loneliness. To allow the relatable sorrow of the video, and of strangers, remind you that you’re not the only struggling young man in the world. Are these strangers really young? You don’t know. They should be. Or maybe not.

Let me tell you about the strangers you don’t know, the strangers you will never know. The strangers whose race you don’t know. Whose username doesn’t give their gender away. The strangers who could be next door to you or a million miles away. You see their comments, you know they exist. You see their comments, you know they are real — maybe even more real than your family and group of friends. They are real because in your loneliness you feel their existence. You’ve never heard them speak, but you hear their calming voice telling you that everything will be okay. Their existence fills your soul. In a way, their existence and experience validates yours too. They are broken, so are you.

The song you are listening to talks about emptiness, in fact, the title is ‘Empty’. It is a fitting title. You are empty, not just because the song says so, but you are truly empty, inside and out. Emptiness is not good. Sometimes it is. The strangers in the comment section are empty too, that’s why they’re listening to Ray LaMontagne. They are lonely, empty, and estranged, same as you. You are alone, but you’re no longer lonely, not at that moment. The little time you spend reading their comments creates a connection between you. Their words fill you. The hope that someone who relates will read the comments fills them. You all are filled.

The song says, “Well I looked my demons in the eye, laid bare my chest said ‘do your best, destroy me.’” A comment talks about how they’re fighting demons greater than they’ve ever fought in their years of existence. They feel empty and estranged from the world. They said they have nothing to live for, they’re only alive because they don’t want to hurt their kids. Their kids. Three kids, that’s their profile picture, probably the kids they’re talking about. You head to Facebook, for the first in a long time. You search for their username, which seems to be their real name. You hope, for the sake of your sanity, that they’ve pulled themselves out of that darkness. You hope that you’d find them with their kids, smiling, and genuinely happy. Your search is futile, there are too many people with that name, Lionel Mendez.

Someone responds about how their health is depleting and how the report from the doctor is not good. They are holding on to hope. Hope. The hope that things will get better. The hope that they’ll be alright, eventually. Other strangers offer them their best wishes, some pray for them. Another person responds and talks about how they relate. They talk about how life bores them. You leave a comment too. Not about your troubles, no! Theirs dwarf yours. You simply hope that they will all get better. That their health will improve, that they will find happiness again. The same things you hope for yourself. Your health is not depleting, but you can relate.

Another comment talks about love, their first love. They talk about memories, and how first love dies the hardest. You find that relatable too. It hurts, always, the first love.

It’s funny how the universe works. You’ve never heard of this Ray dude before, not before today. One search leads to the other and here you are, with strangers. One comment talks about sad people being the kindest because they never want anyone to feel what they feel. It’s true. Everyone is broken but no one projects it on others.

The comments are of people who are all broken, or were once broken. Some even believe they’re broken beyond repair. There are few comments of people who used the song as a springboard to get out of a dark period. Those people offer hope. They’re no longer broken, and they tell you that things will not remain the same. Everyone offers solace, peace, and comfort. You know they really mean it; you offer the same too. You hope that one day the condition that creates sadness in the world will be eliminated.