By magicman
In late 2019, almost 100 years after the 1918 flu infected a third of the world’s population and wiped out over 17+ million souls, a new virus named Covid-19 was found in Wuhan, China. We watched and waited. My brother lives in China and sent us pictures of the empty streets of Shanghai. It seemed absurd. Then Iran and Italy started to show serious symptoms. It was like the tide going out before the tsunami. A deathly quiet before a wave which spread quickly around the globe as governments everywhere suddenly prepared for a voyage into the unknown and people were forced to adapt to the new normal: that everyday life is a health hazard. Here in the USA I started to receive pitying emails & texts from friends that we had such a poor leader, but the federal system means that Andrew Cuomo is in charge of my New York pandemic, not Mr Trump.
Crossing the safety barrier …
Lockdown went into place in New York State on 22nd March with all kinds of instructions and suggestions – a little bit of soap was now advisory, regular hand-washing to kill the unstable virus. I found that I was washing my hands again, and again. And we had other instructions. Don’t touch your face. And don’t mix – to the extent that all sporting events, theatres and concerts were shut down. Restaurants, pubs, coffee bars. Stay six feet away from people. Wear a mask outside and in shops and public transport. Air can hurt you too. Non-essential workforce stay at home.
So for most of us that meant stay indoors.
Signs of the times
For some of us this was difficult. Alone together. For others of course, solitude can be bliss. Some spend their days counting flowers on the wall, watching TV, drinking. Just breathing. Looking forward to a Zoom call for a break. Others work at home on zoom and adapt to the new normal. Computer love. Outside in the ghost town tempers fray and spatial selfishness rubs people up the wrong way – get the funk out my face bitch. Stay away. Back the fuck up piglet! Forty million people are currently unemployed in the USA. Eating welfare cheese. Then there are the culture wars. To mask or not. Trump thinks it ooks weak. Others refuse to wear them in stores, then spit and cough at security when they’re not allowed inside without it. Now we hear about stores where they don’t let you in IF YOU’RE WEARING A MASK. They were born free you see.
Distance running
Trump’s Press Conferences became a nightly pappyshow and we’d break out the popcorn to witness him slowly being toasted alive by his own stupidity. UV light inside the body anyone?
The air became cleaner and the birds came back. Did Antarctica stop melting? Gaia theory anyone? Never turn your back on mother earth…
On the front line people were dying in huge numbers. Oh death where is thy sting? Right here baby. New York City became the epicentre as thousands died daily. We learned to appreciate the Essential Workers, the angel in the blue dress, the garbage man, the cleaner, the shelf-stacker. But mainly the nurses & medics who get applause at 7pm Every Night. All on minimum wage. Watch people’s faces going to work on the subway, crowded as ever, down from the Bronx to work as porters, cleaners, shop assistants. Keeping the city going, dying.
Meanwhile in Taiwan they have impressively kept the number of cases down to 441 and the death count to only 7. In New York State we are now up to over 370,000 cases with approaching 30,000 deaths. Pits are dug on Hart Island to bury the dead. People can’t say goodbye to loved ones, or go to their funerals. Nurses and busdrivers and NYPD are dying. Meanwhile in the UK a Brighton DJ announces he will put on a free concert in October for Health Workers. Praise you me old son.
And we all prayed for the holy grail – immunity. And dreamed of the day before you came Mr Coronavirus. The world had just stopped. AND WE WEREN’T WEIRDED OUT AT ALL WERE WE?
Because even in the darkest of Groundhog Days when we remembered AIDS, Sars or the Hong Kong Flu of 1969 we could still laugh at the Ghananian pallbearers meme dancing the dead off to eternity to the sound of Astronomia. Fear inoculum, I breathe out the virus. We are all avant-gardeners now. And we believe at last that one day we will be out of this and Jerusalem will be builded here because volverán esos momentos. Those days will come again. But not this year, I don’t think. 2020 is done.
***
These songs come from across the global pandemic. From Taiwan, Australia, the Netherlands, Lebanon, Spain, Japan, the UK, South Africa, Sweden, Jamaica, Germany and the USA, who have all tackled the pandemic in their own way.
Nothing from Brazil this week, which is the new epicentre of the virus, and led by a man who disregards his own people. India will not be far behind sadly.
Enough of this separation. Remember that those who chose to stay indoors, wear masks, gloves, and not visit relatives have participated in a huge act of compassion to protect those on the front line in particular the health workers, the true heroes.
Man should be the sum of his story.
Lockdown A-List Playlist:
1. Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth – Sparks
2. Oh Death - Charley Patton & Bertha Lee
3. Everyday Life Is A Health Hazard – Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy
4. Jerusalem – Master KG
5. Don’t Touch - Cosmos People
6. A Little Bit Of Soap - The Jarmels
7. Solitude Is Bliss - Tame Impala
8. Angel In A Blue Dress - Reg Meuross
9. Avant Gardener - Courtney Barnett
10. Welfare Cheese - Emanuel Lasky
11. Don’t Mix - Tricot
12. Fear Inoculum - Tool
13. Zoom - Fat Larry’s Band
14. Immunity - Jon Hopkins & King Creosote
15. Stay Away - Randy Newman
Lockdown B-List Playlist:
1. Holy Grail - Hunters & Collectors
2. Get The Funk Out Ma Face - Brothers Johnson
3. Air - Talking Heads
4. Last - The Unthanks
5. The Day Before You Came - ABBA
6. Hong Kong Flu - The Ethiopians
7. Flowers On The Wall - The Statler Brothers
8. Washing My Hands Again - Jeffrey Lewis
9. Breathing - Kate Bush
10. Praise You - Fatboy Slim
11. Darkest Days - Jackie Lee
12. Computer Love - Kraftwerk
13. People’s Faces - Kate Tempest
14. Astronomia - Vicetone & Tony Igy
15. You Fucking People Make Me Sick - Swans
16. Tango - Soapkills
17. Ghost Town - The Specials
18. Voyage Into The Unknown - Luke Vibert
19. Volveran Esos Momentos - Ele
20. Thank You Baked Potato - Matt Lucas
The G-List Playlist:
My friend Meisha sent me this first song – she lives in Harlem but the song is from London – Sinead Harnett with the heartbreaker Quarantine Queen – really moving.
The song I’ve been singing for the last two months is Al Green’s version of the Temptations’ Can’t Get Next To You. Horn attack!
Massive Attack with Tracey Thorn was a shoo-in I thought but no one shouted it, so here it is.
New York’s favourite diva Cardi B was mixed into the earworm Coronavirus by iMarkkeyz and the result was a million remixes all with six or seven figure views.
The cleverest song I’ve heard about the pandemic is Mask Gloves Soap Scrubs by the other NY Diva Todrick Hall.
Stay safe out there. You’re doing great. Remember, we’re all protecting the frontliners out there keeping this shit going. And that Covid-19? It’s a killer. But we’ll beat it.
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Please release me: songs that could apply to Covid-19 lockdown. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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