What to do when a friend's teenage son posts a song online called "All I Want 2 Do Is Die"?

In author Annabelle Gurwitch's case, it was her son Ezra Kahn — an aspiring singer/songwriter — who'd written the song and posted it online.

Soon after, Gurwitch got a call from a friend, who was calling on behalf of another friend who'd seen the song on SoundCloud. She was concerned about Ezra's mental health, and whether he could be suicidal, but was reluctant to reach out to Gurwitch directly.

At first, Gurwitch says, she was a little taken aback.

"I had heard the song before Ezra put it on SoundCloud and I really liked the song," Gurwitch says, "but I didn't really think about how people would perceive it."

She also didn't want to stifle her son's creativity, but as she thought about it more, Gurwitch says she realized, "Oh wow, this is like the 'net' in the Internet."

In an age when technology can keep us isolated from one another, this was one case where it allowed for one parent to look out for someone else's child. Even someone she didn't know all that well.

"And I thought this mother's looking out for my kid and isn't that a great thing?"

For Ezra, he says he wrote the song at a time when he was very sad, but not suicidal.

"Writing that song was a good cathartic experience, I guess. And after you make a song like that, you sort of feel like 'Well I feel a little better' and then you sort of like what came out of all those negative experiences."

After Gurwitch got the call from her friend, she talked with Ezra, and they both had a laugh about it.

"We just talked about it and I understand that other parents are looking out for me and I like that I guess," Ezra says.

Gurwitch says she hopes their story will encourage other parents to reach out when they feel they need to say something.

“Reach out, even if it’s hard to say ‘Hey do you know about that ridiculous video? Do you know about that song? Have you seen what your kid posted on Facebook?’ I think it’s important.”

To hear the full interview with Annabelle Gurwitch and Ezra Kahn, click the link above.

And to take a listen to some of Ezra's other songs, click here.