Originally published in The Providence Journal on July 12, 2021.
COVID-19 theme songs?
Many fit as the pandemic changed since earliest days.
G. Wayne Miller
The Providence Journal
As The Journal’s health-care reporter, I have been covering
COVID-19 since January 2020. Early
on, I began to wonder:
If the
coronavirus pandemic had a theme song, what would it be?
My
choices changed as the months passed and Rhode Island and the world experienced
surges, emergency orders, and a devastating toll in lives and jobs lost.
More
recently, of course, Rhode Island’s high vaccination rate has helped us to a
summer much better than last year's. There are reasons to believe again in
ordinariness, and with that in mind, let me share my evolving nominations for
theme songs, starting in March 2020, when I wrote my first #coronavirus
Reporter’s Notebook, “Thoughts on living in a state of
dystopia.”
In it,
I referenced Stephen King, my favorite fiction author, and his 1978
post-apocalyptic novel “The Stand,” about a global pandemic. It became a
popular TV mini-series in 1994, with songs including Barry McGuire’s cover of
“Eve of Destruction.” King himself played guitar for the mini-series rendition
of the song.
“Eve
of Destruction” is my pick for the early-pandemic theme song. The Barry McGuire
cover was released in 1965, during the Cold War and the debacle
of Vietnam, but its sentiment captured the mood of late winter 2020.
Can't
you feel the fear that I'm feeling today?
If the
button is pushed, there's no running away
There'll
be no one to save with the world in a grave
Take a
look around you boy, it's bound to scare you, boy
By the
end of spring 2020, more than 16,000 positive cases of coronavirus disease had
been reported in Rhode Island (more than 2 million in the U.S.). The death toll in Rhode Island
surpassed 850. Restrictions prevented relatives and friends
from visiting loved ones who were dying in hospitals, and wakes and funerals
were severely curtailed.
James
Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” fits for a theme song then, with its haunting melody
and lyrics, including these:
I've
seen fire and I've seen rain
I've
seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've
seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I
always thought that I'd see you again
The
gloom deepened when, in late July 2020, deaths surpassed 1,000.
Lana
Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness” was on my mind then — and during August and
September. The song is the story of two deaths by suicide, but the lyrics speak
more broadly to loss in general. They also, to me at least, capture the mental-health crises that
so many have experienced, a topic I have frequently explored in
my reporting.
Think
I'll miss you forever
Like
the stars miss the sun in the morning sky
Early
autumn 2020 brought hopeful developments, including the reopening of some
schools, but public-health experts were warning of a possible new surge ahead
(they were right). COVID continued to cause unprecedented economic
suffering for many. Green Day’s “Wake Me Up When September Ends” gets my nod
for this period of the pandemic.
Here
comes the rain again
Falling
from the stars
Drenched
in my pain again
As the
last month of 2020 began, vaccines were not yet available. Another terrible
holiday season seemed on the horizon (it was). What better song for December
2020 than B.B. King’s “Everyday I Have the Blues”?
Everyday,
I have
the blues
Ooh
everyday,
Everyday,
I have
the blues
The
first shots of the Pfizer vaccine were administered in Rhode Island on Dec. 14,
to Lifespan front-line workers. The next day, Care New England
employees rolled up their sleeves. Can’t find a better song for
expectations than Carrie Underwood’s “Hallelujah,” as she performed it
with Legend.
Let
the lonely join together, let them know their worth
Ooh,
let the children know
There's
a brighter day ahead (let's hold on to hope)
As
last winter ended and spring 2021 arrived, the data trends in Rhode Island
turned positive. Could there be a better song for the second quarter of this
year than Jimmy Cliff’s “I Can See Clearly Now?”
I can
see clearly now the rain is gone
I can
see all obstacles in my way
Here
is that rainbow I've been praying for
It's
gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright
(bright) sunshiny day
Which
brings me to my pick for overall theme song.
First,
a disclaimer: popular though they were, the band that wrote and recorded this
song was not one of my favorites when they broke onto the music scene. But
when Duran Duran released “Ordinary World” a few years later in 1993, I was
enthralled. During the pandemic, I have listened to it again (and again) and
the lyrics (and incomparable melody) have become an earworm.
No
room to include them all, but consider these in judging whether “Ordinary
World” best captures the sadness and hopes of the last year and a half:
Where
is the life that I recognize?
Gone
away
But I
won't cry for yesterday
There's
an ordinary world
Somehow
I have to find
And as
I try to make my way
To the
ordinary world
I will
learn to survive
Perhaps
coincidentally (or not), Duran Duran was featured last week
on Today. The Brits performed a new song and announced their
intention to tour again next year.
In the
music world, at least, that indeed would be an ordinary world.
I
invite you to send your nominations for pandemic theme songs, along with a
brief explanation of why. I may use them in a future #coronavirus Reporter's
Notebook. Send to gwmiller@providencejournal.com,
writing “COVID song” in the subject field.
