Music and The CoronaVirus

Could the Beatles have recorded the classic song, ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, in today’s CoronaVirus world? Doubtful, fans would listen with a puzzled look.

What about ‘Satchmo’ Louis Armstrong, and his song, ‘What A Wonderful World’ with thé line, ‘I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do’ Who’s shaking hands today?

The New Seekers would not have had a hit with ‘I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing’ without the lyric ‘I’d like to hold it in my arms and keep it company’. Maybe, in its place, they could sub, ‘I’d like to love it with all my heart and keep everyone six feet apart’? Nah, wouldn’t work.

Music is all about emoting feelings: hugging, kissing, being together, loving one another. Today, everyone can’t ‘get together and smile on their brother‘ as The Youngbloods encouraged us to do with their smash hit, ‘Get Together’, not with social distancing and masks.

This pandemic is affecting us in more ways than you might think.

The Drifters might have been okay with ‘Under the Boardwalk’, ‘on a blanket with their baby…’ especially with young followers generally flaunting the unofficial rules. They would have found these lyrics perfectly acceptable.

Just think how music would have to change because people’s habits are changing due to CoronaVirus. It remains to be seen if we return to old mores or actually change personal habits regarding closeness and social behavior.

As a career salesperson, shaking hands firmly was SOP. That’s changed. Elvis would have to remove the lyric, ‘take my hand’ from the beautiful ballad ‘I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You’.

Jay & The Americans could not have titled their big hit song, ‘Come A Little Bit Closer’, not in the age of Coronavirus. It would have raised some eyebrows, unless, of course, you were under the same boardwalk as The Drifters.

No, we’re in a unique time where SOP is upside down, PSAs constantly warning us about protecting humanity by keeping apart. We’re encouraged to wear masks to protect others from potentially harmful droplets and we learn to smile with our eyes.

On thé positive side, we don’t have to shave nor worry about brushing our teeth. Our faces our covered and we’re six feet apart, if you’re following protocol.

Come to think of it, even the Seven Dwarfs would be out of vogue singing ‘Whistle While You Work’.

Who’s working, anyway?

Steve (srbottch.com)

June 2020

To all those who enjoy music lyrics and find yourselves singing daily, even to yourself.

Published by

srbottch

Retired in 2013 after 5 years as an elementary school teacher and 40 years as a sales representative to begin anew as a school crossing guard. SMy essays/stories are a way to communicate through the telling of personal experiences. One reader said about my blog stories, "...these are like a cold sip during a marathon run, simple, real life events". Another offered about my blog, “it brings some sense of normalcy not easily found in the modern world.”

25 thoughts on “Music and The CoronaVirus”

      3. Thanks, Gary. I bet you know some songs/lyrics that would fit in with the story. As for ‘coming back’, I agree. We’re being tested from the inside but we’ve been tested before and we’ve always come back. It’s just a hit disheartening to see so many young people in the midst of this unrest, yelling, screaming and being so unruly. At least we’re not the poor folks in Hong Kong.

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  2. Hi Steve,
    Enjoyed your now take on music. Very true.
    Each weekday I listen to Bill McLaughlin on “Exploring Music”. Any music I now hear has a new meaning; connected and distanced too.
    Thanks for your great take on this.
    Jim Murdock

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  6. You do make a good point, Steve, about the words of songs and the general joy of people being together. I have always tried to avoid hand shaking as I always knew colds and flu were passed on that way. As for whose working – my word, I just never seem to stop these days. I read a funny meme which said “lockdown, what lockdown, I’m an accountant and worked so hard during this time, I didn’t even know there was a lockdown.” Happy fourth of July tomorrow.

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    1. Thanks, Robbie. And you’re right about the work, even peeps working at home are putting in long hours. I just threw that in because it struck me as funny. Thanks for the celebration wishes for our Independence Day. Having some issues in our country now but , hopefully, it’ll make us stronger. Take care, Robbie.

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  7. Pingback: Music that makes me happy – Robbie's inspiration

    1. Thank you, Robbie. I chuckled at your spelling of my last name because that was a nickname given to me in high school. Officially, my last name has an -er- at the end. In elementary school, a science teacher said to me, ‘you really. Botched up that answer.’ 😂

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  10. I hadn’t thought of this before. The lyrics would certainly be different. Of course I know every song… there’s a message somewhere. Fabulous post! Best to you, Steve.

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  11. Love your thoughts on the lyrics appropriate to the covid 19 world. Masks, mystery , eyes, allure, glances, longing, waiting… are words which could be used in 2020 lyrics. It will be fascinating to see what transpires!
    Well written, Steve!

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