COVID-19 Lockdown Blues
June 24, 2020 6:15 PM Subscribe
Recently, I've run across two pretty good songs about the current pandemic: Lockdown Blues by Iceage and 2020 Vision by Danny Schmidt. I'm figuring there must already be lots of songs specifically about this. I'd like to hear more. What do you got?
Please hear me and believe me when I say I am emphatically not interested in songs that sound like they could be about COVID-19, or are evocative of it in some way, or seem to have predicted something similar. I'm strictly interested in songs reacting in real time to the current pandemic.
Please hear me and believe me when I say I am emphatically not interested in songs that sound like they could be about COVID-19, or are evocative of it in some way, or seem to have predicted something similar. I'm strictly interested in songs reacting in real time to the current pandemic.
It’s not necessarily a good song, but here’s one by Todrick Hall.
posted by thenickeldropped at 6:32 PM on June 24, 2020
posted by thenickeldropped at 6:32 PM on June 24, 2020
All Together Now by OK Go is a great example. Read the letter attached and Rebecca Solnit’s essay it references, good stuff.
posted by centrifugal at 6:35 PM on June 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by centrifugal at 6:35 PM on June 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
Are cheesy amusing parodies/covers ok? I think just about every "music video" The Holderness Family's released since, oh, mid-March is about pandemic life.
posted by cgg at 6:49 PM on June 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by cgg at 6:49 PM on June 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
Dammit I was just looking for the link to the Holderness family to post that.
Pitbull has "I Believe That We Will Win." I was utterly boggled when I heard that Pitbull, of all people, did one of these.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:52 PM on June 24, 2020
Pitbull has "I Believe That We Will Win." I was utterly boggled when I heard that Pitbull, of all people, did one of these.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:52 PM on June 24, 2020
Okay, this is an edge case, but the Residents and Frank Black recorded a song called “DIE! DIE! DIE!” before the pandemic. When the Residents made the video for it, they made it explicitly about Trump’s murderously negligent response to the pandemic.
posted by ejs at 7:11 PM on June 24, 2020
posted by ejs at 7:11 PM on June 24, 2020
SELF LINK WARNING:
Shortly after this all started, I wrote and recorded the backing tracks of a song, posted it on facebook, and suggested that any of my friends who wanted to write lyrics and a melody for it could do whatever they wanted with it. Two did, and both were about the pandemic:
"The Distancing" with Jennifer Gidman
"April 4, 2020" with Michael DiGiacomo
posted by jonathanhughes at 8:01 PM on June 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
Shortly after this all started, I wrote and recorded the backing tracks of a song, posted it on facebook, and suggested that any of my friends who wanted to write lyrics and a melody for it could do whatever they wanted with it. Two did, and both were about the pandemic:
"The Distancing" with Jennifer Gidman
"April 4, 2020" with Michael DiGiacomo
posted by jonathanhughes at 8:01 PM on June 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
Chromeo made a whole hilarious EP: Quarantine Casanova.
posted by adiabat at 8:20 PM on June 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by adiabat at 8:20 PM on June 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
If filked covers are okay, check out Coronavirus Rhapsody.
posted by humbug at 8:27 PM on June 24, 2020
posted by humbug at 8:27 PM on June 24, 2020
X Ambassadors, K.Flay and grandson - Zen (Official Video)
posted by katra at 8:31 PM on June 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by katra at 8:31 PM on June 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
The one and only Dolly Parton has graced the world with a new song for our times - "When Life is Good Again"
Luke Combs - “Six Feet Apart”
Adam Hambrick - “Between Me and the End of the World”
Big & Rich - “Stay Home”
posted by cessair at 8:51 PM on June 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
Luke Combs - “Six Feet Apart”
Adam Hambrick - “Between Me and the End of the World”
Big & Rich - “Stay Home”
posted by cessair at 8:51 PM on June 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
Ben Gibbard wrote a song about the stay at home order! Life in Quarantine
posted by carlypennylane at 9:26 PM on June 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by carlypennylane at 9:26 PM on June 24, 2020 [2 favorites]
No YouTube link, but Vid Nelson - "Stay 6 Feet Away" has been a recent favorite. Has some fantastic lyrics:
"Corporations number one
get the board to donate some
to Jeff Bezos' relief fund"
posted by evilbeck at 9:32 PM on June 24, 2020
"Corporations number one
get the board to donate some
to Jeff Bezos' relief fund"
posted by evilbeck at 9:32 PM on June 24, 2020
Have you heard the Rolling Stone's Living in a Ghost Town? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNNPNweSbp8
If you're open to parodies, I loved these two by Chris Mann:
Hello (from the inside) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5azNpTwVk8
My Corona https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojrtwXqqc6g
posted by Ahniya at 9:54 PM on June 24, 2020
If you're open to parodies, I loved these two by Chris Mann:
Hello (from the inside) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5azNpTwVk8
My Corona https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojrtwXqqc6g
posted by Ahniya at 9:54 PM on June 24, 2020
Jeffrey Lewis' Keep it Chill! (in the East Vill) was an early example, dating back to late March.
posted by misteraitch at 12:23 AM on June 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by misteraitch at 12:23 AM on June 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
Three Barcelona based musicians formed a group called the "Stay Homas" (in the blue) - for 24 days they wrote and performed a "confinement song" - often with collaborating vocalists taking part via a smartphone - "Stay Homa" for example. The songs - in Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese and English are all about their experiences of Covid-19 confinement. Their performances helped them sell out a large venue in Barcelona in July and got them a Sony recording contract.
posted by rongorongo at 4:40 AM on June 25, 2020
posted by rongorongo at 4:40 AM on June 25, 2020
The Our Plague Year podcast (run by Joseph Fink of Night Vale fame) put together an episode of quarantine music, it's the May 25th episode. YMMV but I really liked Erin McKeown's song The Escape.
posted by possibilityleft at 6:07 AM on June 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by possibilityleft at 6:07 AM on June 25, 2020 [1 favorite]
Trey Anastasio has been recording a lot of songs while stuck in his NYC apartment. This one, called The Silver Lining, was recorded with toilet paper and Purell percussion.
Another, specifically about being locked in at home: My World is My Home.
There's a bunch more on his page. They're not all about COVID but they all seem to be influenced by what's going on.
Sorry about the Facebook links, that's where he seems to be posting them.
posted by bondcliff at 7:38 AM on June 25, 2020
Another, specifically about being locked in at home: My World is My Home.
There's a bunch more on his page. They're not all about COVID but they all seem to be influenced by what's going on.
Sorry about the Facebook links, that's where he seems to be posting them.
posted by bondcliff at 7:38 AM on June 25, 2020
The one I have been listening to the most is
Temple, by Thao & Get Down and the Stay Down (apple). It kicks off with
Uneventful Days (St. Vincent Remix) by Beck
(Apple) is an upbeat about living the endless now of 'uneventful days uneventful nights'
Protest music:
Beneficiary (of a genocide) by Wintersleep (live) apple which also features an uptempo and at one point, my fav, backing vocals singing 'war without end'.... it's a bit repetitive but not treacly
I seek out Max Richter The Blue Notebooks, which were composed as a commentary on my society that so willingly leaped into the invasion of Iraq.
posted by zenon at 7:43 AM on June 25, 2020
Temple, by Thao & Get Down and the Stay Down (apple). It kicks off with
I lost my city in the light of dayMore of a mood:
Thick smoke Helicopter blades
Heaven and Earth, I've never moved so fast
Uneventful Days (St. Vincent Remix) by Beck
(Apple) is an upbeat about living the endless now of 'uneventful days uneventful nights'
Protest music:
Beneficiary (of a genocide) by Wintersleep (live) apple which also features an uptempo and at one point, my fav, backing vocals singing 'war without end'.... it's a bit repetitive but not treacly
I seek out Max Richter The Blue Notebooks, which were composed as a commentary on my society that so willingly leaped into the invasion of Iraq.
posted by zenon at 7:43 AM on June 25, 2020
A friend on FB linked to this band from Ohio that does a pretty good parody on Hey Nineteen called Covid-19
posted by jabo at 9:46 AM on June 25, 2020
posted by jabo at 9:46 AM on June 25, 2020
Perhaps you may enjoy the new single by MeFi's own Guzzalina, called Viral (Spotify link). Also available on YouTube.
posted by sockpuppetryarts at 10:17 AM on June 25, 2020
posted by sockpuppetryarts at 10:17 AM on June 25, 2020
The Irish comedy trio Foil Arms and Hog just posted "Why the Hell did the Lockdown have to End?"
posted by Lexica at 3:58 PM on June 25, 2020
posted by Lexica at 3:58 PM on June 25, 2020
A brief tune by Avenue Beat that I've been humming since I heard it: fuck 2020
posted by Lexica at 9:29 AM on July 2, 2020
posted by Lexica at 9:29 AM on July 2, 2020
Late to the game (but I remembered this question, and hearing this song on my New Music Playlist today made me think of it), but Canadian Softball (a "fake" band that parodies midwestern emo) released "Socially Distant," which I think you'll like, or at least laugh/cry at.
posted by General Malaise at 11:23 AM on July 3, 2020
posted by General Malaise at 11:23 AM on July 3, 2020
« Older Best place to put my money to help Black... | Tiny bedroom closet solves all her problems Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by deludingmyself at 6:28 PM on June 24, 2020