Alexa Borden is one of my favourite singer songwriters period. She has a new song out called Not Like That and this is what she had to say about it.

POV: It’s May 2020 and COVID is in full swing. Government guidelines seem to change by the
hour and the population is afraid. People begin grasping at any hope they can as minds melt
away and mental health declines in isolation. Some begin to latch on to conspiracy theories and
fall victim to misinformation. The population is divided into two. Scientific evidence and
YouTube.
…That’s where ‘Not Like That’ begins.
Isolation was hard for many as you already know. A lot of us had to find connection in creative or
unusual ways. It brought us together in a sense by reconnecting us with old friends & family
once the thrill of drinking and doing puzzles at noon started to wane.
In May of 2020 I had a former acquaintance reach out to me with whom I had cut all contact with
3 years prior. Our last few interactions back then were concerning to say the least and I did not
imagine I would ever be in contact with him again. He sent me what I believed to be a sincere
apology for his behaviour in the past. I accepted this as I am a firm believer that people can
change. He also assured me that he was emotionally and mentally stable again because he
was (I quote) “back on his meds”. I bought it. Our conversations were quite normal for the first
few days, but it wasn’t long before I realized that he was not back on his meds, in fact he was
actually just back on his bullshit.
I always knew he was somewhat of a conspiracy theorist, but I did not know the extent of it. He
shared dozens of videos, articles and podcasts with me, one after another. Begging me to ”
wake up and see the truth” when I would brush them off. I received multiple one-sided rants in
texts sent at 4 am about the right hand of god, satanism, cults, spirituality, and vaccines which
often came out of left field and didn’t make any sense. He even sprinkled in some sexual
harassment in every now and then just to keep things interesting. I wouldn’t bite and after a
while I became more and more irritated by his theories considering the state that the world was
in due to COVID by this point.
Eventually, after I rejected several of his vulgar advances to sleep with me and argued against
his insensitive theories, he began to go for the jugular. For a man who was virtually a stranger to
me, it was impressive how deeply he could twist the knife. What were once entertaining and
ridiculous discussions were now hurtful and disarming attacks that made me regret even letting
him get one word in to his apology a month before.
I remember the exact moment the idea for the song came to me. I was in the process of
blocking him again as I read one of the last messages he sent to me:
“You all make judgments on the lies you’re given, but don’t care to actually learn
anything for yourself.”
Annoyed, I thought “I do want to explore deep conversations about God and the universe or
challenge what we are told to believe… but man. Not like that.”

This song has been a journey of its own since the moment of conception to its final form. The
most impactful meaning was revealed to me over time as the lyrics evolved and my frustrations
became more clear… There is so much danger within that chaotic noise of misinformation and
infinite access in the age of the internet. I believe that we should be having curious
conversations with friends under the stars at 3 am. We should be questioning the way the world
is laid out for us and breaking down outdated infrastructures. Some of my favourite memories
have been exploring the possibilities of life in space with my parents while camping or
speculating the afterlife with my best friend. But when suspicious ideas become concrete
foundations that harbour fear, hate or division… that’s when it crosses the line from inquisitive to
destructive.
I worked on the final master of this song with two very talented artists in London, England in
2021- Singer/songwriter Tadhg Daly and producer/songwriter Dustin Dooley.