The Covid-19 pandemic is probably THE dividing event of our lifetimes. The way people who lived through World War II divided their lives into before the war and after the war, I think we'll divide the stories of our lives into before and after the pandemic. 

I'm being crazily optimistic here. First, that the pandemic, which a lot of people are pretending is over, will ever end, and second, that some even greater disaster isn't waiting for us. 

I have time to think about this kind of thing because I have Covid. I had it once before and it felt like I got hit by a truck, then got hit by another truck, then the first truck again because it got jealous that I was seeing other trucks. 

This time I sorta have the sniffles. 
 

I've also been thinking about great pandemic songs. I don't think there have been any. I don't mean there haven't been any great songs during the pandemic. I'm talking about songs about the pandemic. 

Say what you will about World War II. I mean I don't think it was much fun. But it inspired a lot of songs. The Andrews Sisters had so many hits singing about the war that if it hadn't happened on its own, they might have gone out and started it themselves. 

There's even at least one World War III song, because, as my college math professor Tom Lehrer noted, "If any songs are going to come out of World War III, we'd better start writing them now."

If I were feeling a little more energetic and creative, and if I could sing or talk for more than 10 seconds without coughing, this might be where I tell you that the Song of the Newsletter is my bid to come up with the first great pandemic song, but alas no. 

I'm going to percolate on it, though. There are a lot of pleasing and rhymable words involved — isolate, vaccinate, N-95. But there's also some tough ones. According to the rhyming dictionary I use, the only word in the English language that rhymes with Covid is bovid, which, according to Wikipedia, is a member of "the biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes cattle, yaks, bison, buffalo, antelopes, sheep and goats."  

Could be a wild one, folks. 

DON'T Come on out

I won't be playing out anywhere this week but I've got a couple things coming up next month. 

Songwriters Showcase

Thursday, March 14, 6-7:30 p.m.

The Brick, Fuquay-Varina
 

I'll be one of three artists onstage in this NC Songwriters Co-op showcase. We'll take turns playing original songs. I don't know who the two real artists are yet but will advise in future newsletters.  

Open Mic America

Sunday, March 17, 8 p.m. EDT / 5 p.m. PDT

Streaming on YouTube

This is the national livestream open mic that last week's Song of the Newsletter video came from. You can watch live at the above link, but the show will be archived there as well. 

Throat clearing, coughing, etc. etc.

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No Song of the Newsletter this time but here's a World War II song from Woody Guthrie that's still pretty relevant. Or again, maybe. 

He was right once. Here's hoping he's right this time too.