Only Empathy Need Apply

© David Trethowen / COMPUTER GIRL @DTFM. All Rights Reserved. Original Concept/Lived experience Original Lyrics written by David Trethowen. Music and production created with the assistance of AI-based creative tools and human direction/editing. Unauthorised copying, redistribution, re-uploading, or commercial use of this audio/video is prohibited without permission from the copyright holder. This work is registered with APRA AMCOS and protected under international copyright law. Song Intent “Only Empathy Need Apply” is a cinematic alternative rock song about compassion surviving inside systems that often struggle to hold humanity and grief at the same time. Inspired by lived experience around sudden death, trauma exposure, and the emotional aftermath carried quietly by those left standing, the song explores what happens when care must come from people rather than process. This is not a song about procedure. It is a song about choosing empathy anyway. Built around emotional realism, restraint, and the quiet human moments that exist outside paperwork, policy, and institutional language, the track reflects on finding ways to protect dignity, connection, and compassion when systems alone are not enough. A song about humanity surviving where it easily could have disappeared. — COMPUTER GIRL @DTFM — @DavidTrethowen #CinematicRock #AlternativeRock #PsychologicalRock #Empathy #OriginalMusic #TraumaAwareness #MentalHealthAwareness #Humanity #EmotionalRealism #COMPUTERGIRLDTFM