Coronavirus tunes: the Covid-19 songs you absolutely have to listen to
- The coronavirus epidemic has sparked an unlikely new trend: catchy songs meant to educate but also make you sing and dance
- The tracks include a Vietnamese hit that late-night TV host John Oliver called ‘incredible’ and a ‘club banger’ that ‘absolutely slaps’
As the coronavirus spreads around the world – forcing government officials to declare states of emergency, shutting down entertainment events and creating a trove of memes – it has also sparked an unlikely new trend: catchy songs meant to educate but also make you sing and dance.
Some are parodies and have racist or xenophobic lyrics that play up stereotypes about Asian culture, but others serve as public service announcements about how to keep the virus at bay, such as a catchy number from Vietnam that has gone viral in recent days.
From China and Vietnam to the Dominican Republic and Mexico, these are some of the hit songs inspired by the coronavirus.
In El Coronavirus, a band from Oaxaca, Mexico, called El Capi get playful with their Covid-19 jam.
The man at centre stage in a buttoned-up white shirt, black trousers and a grey blazer swings his arms and sings in Spanish: “The whole world is talking about the relative of la chikungunya [a virus spread by mosquitoes]/It’s a rare and strange sickness that’s hitting across the city.”