Pandemic Songs for Quarantine
Read Time:2 Minute, 42 Second
Back in my college days, I was a regular in the Midwest science fiction convention circuit. In the 1970s, these were nothing like the highly commercialized present-day ComicCons, Star Trek, or Star Wars gatherings; they were run by amateurs, and were more like big house parties, run by fen for fen.
In the jargon native to science fiction fandom “fen” is the plural of “fan” and “convention” is abbreviated as “con”. A “pro” is a published author, leading to the fannish adage, “Science fiction has its pros and cons.” “SF” was the approved abbreviation for the genre; “SciFi” was strictly taboo. and writers.
The atmosphere was intimate, and it was not unusual to find yourself rubbing elbows with someone like Robert Silverberg at the art show, bumping into an impromptu lecture by Harlan Ellison in a hotel corridor or sharing an elevator with pros like Larry Niven or Samuel R. Delaney. Evenings were given over to parties, and every con had a suite where people gathered, many with musical instruments, for a round of filk singing (it was originally supposed to be “folk singing”, but there was a typo in the convention program and the name stuck). Some filk songs were original works, but many, written by nonmusicians (like me) were parodies of traditional or popular songs with the lyrics rewritten along a science fiction, fantasy, or fandom theme.
I wrote a goodly number of them myself, including a slew of altered Christmas carols, and people I know who are still into the convention scene tell me that some of my old chestnuts are still roasting in filk sessions to this day.
Every now and then, the filk bug bites me again and COVID-19 has provided me with some fresh inspiration. So I hereby introduce Songs From The Pandemic.
Suggestions for new titles are welcome in the comments;
My Corona
Ooh my microscopic one, little one.
When you gonna give me some time, Corona?
Ooh you make my sinus run, my sinus run.
Got it coughin’ off the line Corona
Never gonna stop, pass it on.
Such a dirty breath. Always give it to the rest
of the healthy kind. My my my i yi woo.
M M M My CoronaCome a little closer huh, ah will ya huh.
Close enough to breathe in my face, Corona.
Keeping it in quarantine gets to me
Crossing down to less than six feet, Corona
Never gonna stop, pass it on. Such a dirty breath.
Always give it to the rest
of the healthy kind. My my my i yi woo.
M M M My Corona
M M M My CoronaWhen you gonna give it to me, give it to me.
It is just a matter of time Corona
Is it just a bit of flu, bit of flu?
Or is it just a spot on my lungs, Corona?
Never gonna stop, pass it on.
Such a dirty breath. Always give it to the rest
of the healthy kind. My my my i yi woo.
M M M My Corona
M M M My Corona
M M M My Corona
M M M My Corona
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0
In retrospect, this seems so obvious that I’m surprised that nobody beat me to it – who knows? Maybe someone did. The internet’s a big place.
P.S.: More to come.
I still think of the Corona typewriter. I think I’ve finally gone over the edge
Ha! I owned a Corona typewriter and could type 70WPM on it. I was much younger then, and I’m much older now.
Fun little ditty under tragic circumstances. Laughing is good.
Some years ago, I read a book titled Dead Funny: Humor In Hitler’s Germany by Rudolph Herzog. If people needed and found humor in those dark times, so do we.
I’ll have to check that out. Thanks.
Could be a hit!
My, my, my Corona! I love that song, My, my, my Delilah. I actually saw Tom Jones in person years ago.
Subscribing to comments.
Could be a hit.