SUFFOLK, Va. -- Cabin fever hit Matthew McFarland, an 8-year-old boy with a lot of free time, so hard that he said made him upset. He has been home since March 23, when Virginia Governor Ralph Northam ordered schools in the Commonwealth to be closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I was out of school, and I was sad and because I missed my friends and teachers,” Matthew told News 3.
He passed the time with activities such as playing video games and playing soccer in his backyard. But Matthew also decided to turn his sorrow and cabin fever into song.
"He’s never written a song before,” Stefani McFarland, Matthew’s mother, said. “But when I came home the next day, he had his chorus all written out and a tune for it."
She said Matthew’s song did not start out as a music video. That idea came later after she encouraged him to write down his feelings.
“He was kind of struggling with his emotions a little bit, and so when I encouraged him to journal his feelings,” Stefani said, "he was like, 'Well, I think I’m just going to write a song.'"
The nearly two-and-a-half-minute-long music video is called "On and On and On,” and was uploaded to YouTube on April 4. Stefani said his song received accolades from friends, neighbors, family, a local principal and the superintendent of Suffolk Public Schools.
“My dad put the song together, but I was the one who sang it,” Matthew said.
Matthew and his crew filmed at different locations throughout Suffolk. Some of locations included Bill Jessee Park, on the playground and on a small dock by the lake.
Matthew said some of his friends did not know that they would be in the music video. They only found out “until they watched it,” Matthew said.
The big question right now: Will there be a second song?
"I’m probably going to make another one,” Matthew said.
As for when it might come out, he said, “maybe in a year."
To check out the full-length music video on YouTube, click here.
