Old Friend
After years of keeping it tucked under my pillow, I’m setting it free.
Recorded & filmed at Gymnopedie, Brooklyn, NYC
Premiering July 17, 2026
Shakthisree Gopalan shares “Old Friend,” a new independent single, out July 17, 2026. Recorded and filmed live in Brooklyn, NYC - with the studio version releasing soon, later in the month.
Old Friend is a song I wrote during the 2020 lockdown. It’s about my inner demons - the ones I’ve known for years. And what I’ve learned is that you don’t get past them by ignoring them. The only way is to acknowledge them and work through them. You walk alongside the demons to walk past them - and set yourself free.
This song holds everything - from my struggles to my neurodivergence, my mental health, and above all - choosing myself.
“I don’t want no happy pills,
they make me feel sad.
Why should I pay a price to be myself
when the world is going mad.”
I first sang this song in front of other humans during my time as a grad student at Berklee NYC - our Friday student concert, my friend Mike Moore accompanying me on guitars. Every time I’ve sung it since, some part of me healed. Every time someone told me it was their song too, it felt like less of mine to keep.
So I decided to open it up - it almost felt necessary to have more voices be part of bringing this song to life. We recorded it in the room where some of us had first met - at a stranger-choir experience Zahara was facilitating - some as friends, some as strangers I met for the first time that day. Filming it in that same space felt ceremonial. One take. New York felt like where the song was born.
The filmed live recording felt raw and honest - with more unspoken things to tell than the polish of a studio version. So I’m sharing it first. No edits. The studio version follows on July 31.
Old Friend - premieres 17 July 2026
Premieres July 17, 2026 · 5:30pm IST
Love is so much more powerful than fear. You can approach anything wanting to win, or not wanting to lose; one is infused with abundance, the other with survival. Every time I’ve had to crawl out of a ditch, and out of the forest, I’ve chosen love over fear. Every time. And I want this song to be a reminder of that - even if we are fighting demons within us, choosing to act with love is powerful.
Old Friend
Hey there old friend, I hear you knocking on my door. Hey there old friend, I hear you breaking down my walls.
And I’m looking for a way out, trying so hard it hurts.
Hey there old friend, you’ve got me crawling on the floor. Hey there old friend, you know I’ve got nowhere to go.
And I’m looking for a way out, I’m trying so hard but I’m stuck. I am stuck. I am stuck. I am stuck.
Running around in circles, trying to escape from you. Running around in circles, trying to escape from you.
I don’t want no happy pills, they make me feel sad. Why should I pay a price to be myself when the world is going mad.
I know I’m a little crazy when it comes to you and me. I hear them say that truth is gonna set me free.
Hey there old friend, I see you from the corner of my eye. Hey there old friend, I know it’s time to say goodbye.
And I’m looking for a way out, I’ve been trying so hard. And I’m trying. I am trying. I keep on trying. I’m still trying.
Around the release, Shakthisree is hosting a small listening session in Chennai on July 16 - forty people in the room, premiering the film, other works in progress at different stages of their lifecycle, and stories and time shared together. The first of more.
- Listening session - Chennai
- Jul 16, 2026
- Old Friend (Filmed Live Recording) · YouTube
- Jul 17, 2026 · 5:30pm IST
- Old Friend (Studio Version) · all streaming platforms
- Jul 31, 2026 · 5:30pm IST
Pre-save link · coming soon
- Vocals · Guitar · Words
- Shakthisree Gopalan
- Slide Guitar
- Mike Moore
- Choral Vocals Director
- Zahara Annette Philip
- Vocal Ensemble
- Sofia Campoamor, Michelle Long (Milo), Dylan Robinson, Sara Ontaneda, Aditi Ramakrishnan, Michael Silverstein, Melody Wallace, Javaun Harewood, Brenton Zola, Libby Froeber
- Recorded At
- Gymnopedie, Brooklyn
- Recording Engineer
- Johannes Felscher
- Filmed By
- Simon Yu
- Lighting
- Andreas Hofweber
- Production Assistants
- Archana Balaji & Ayush Venkatram Srinath
- Colour Grading & Artwork
- Irshad PLKR
- Mix & Master
- Vivek Thomas
- BTS
- Anneliese Horrowitz
- Lead · Backing Vocals
- Shakthisree Gopalan
- Guitars
- Vinay Kaushal
- Strings
- Rithu Vysakh
- Strings Arranged By
- Kalyani Nair
- Lead Vocals Recorded By
- Hari Haran · 20 dB Sound Studios, Chennai
- Backing Vocals Recorded By
- Mani Ratnam · The Mystic’s Room Studios, Chennai
- Mix & Master
- Balu Thankachan · 20 dB Sound Studios, Chennai
- Special Thanks
- Mike & Zahara, for making this possible · Simon Yu, who first taught Mike and me at our Music Video class at Berklee NYC, for filming this version · everyone who showed up that day and made this bigger than myself · my mom, for asking me to love myself · and my family, for being there for me, with me - through it all
Shakthisree Gopalan is a vocalist, songwriter, composer and producer. She has been an independent artist - releasing all her original work independently since 2008. After a decade and more as a recording and touring artist, and a sabbatical in New York, Old Friend marks her return to her roots as an independent singer-songwriter. Shakthi is also an architect and designer working on Sound Garden - an immersive sonic ecosystem. This single is the first of many to come out of her chapters of healing. More at shakthisreegopalan.com.
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