Coronavirus Playlist

On this April Fool's Day, I offer a very serious suggestion of songs to play during the COVID-19 crisis - another iPod playlist of doom.  These songs, in no particular order, are relevant in one way or another. 

"Don't Stand So Close To Me," the Police (keep a distance of six feet)

"Waiting For the Sun," the Doors (waiting for better days so we can find out what went wrong)

"It Better End Soon," Chicago (a ten-minute anti-war suite)

"It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)," R.E.M. (natch!)

"Keep Yourself Alive," Queen (ditto)

"Avant Gardener," Courtney Barnett ("I'm having trouble breathing in")

"School's Out," Alice Cooper ("We might not come back at all . . .")

"Industrial Disease," Dire Straits (and industry wants us to return to work?)

"Ventilator Blues," the Rolling Stones (of course)

"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)," Marvin Gaye (the planet is dying)

"The Last Resort," the Eagles ("seeking a place to stand . . . there is no more New Frontier, and we have got to make it here")

"Eat at Home," Paul McCartney (don't eat out!)

"Shelter From the Storm," Bob Dylan (shelter in place)

"My Hometown," Bruce Springsteen (deserted town)

"Do For the Others," Stephen Stills ("She is gone, there is no tomorrow . . . It is done so now, he must borrow the life of his brothers and living in sorrow, must do for the others")

"Life During Wartime," the Talking Heads (no parties, no discos, no fooling around - groceries to last a couple of days)

"World of Pain," Cream (no time for pity)

"Pure and Easy," the Who ("As people assemble, civilization is trying to find a new way to die . . .")

*

There once was a note - listen!

The Donald Trump Playlist (Or, the iPod of Doom)

While Hillary Clinton was trying to show how current she was by playing Sara Bareilles' "Brave" and Rachel Platten's "Fight Song" at her rallies and getting Katy Perry and Beyoncé to perform concerts for her campaign, Donald Trump was playing classic rock songs from the Rolling Stones, Queen and Free at his rallies over the objections of Mick Jagger, Queen's Brian May, Mick Jagger, and Free's Paul Rodgers, respectively.  (Thanks to a detail in copyright laws allowing politicians to buy the rights to songs for one-time events like rallies, I've been led to understand, Trump could do that.)  But then Trump knew that his favored demographic pines for a time when such rock and roll giants walked the earth.  Yes, we middle-age white guys love our classic rock, but that doesn't mean we all subscribe to Trump's politics!  Classic-rock artists certainly don't.  I believe it was Pink Floyd's Roger Waters who called Trump "pig-ignorant."

Be that as it may, I've taken to going on YouTube and listening to a slew of rock songs, classic and otherwise, that, in one way or another, capture my feelings about Trump's presidential election victory.  Sort of like an iPod of doom.  And I guarantee you that the Trumpster won't be playing any of these songs at his re-election campaign rallies in 2020. Here they are, in no particular order:

"When The Levee Breaks," Led Zeppelin (an impending man-made disaster)

"Band On the Run," Paul McCartney and Wings ("If we ever get out of here . . .")

"Katmandu," Bob Seger (that's where I'm going?)

"The Best of Times," Styx ("The headlines read, 'These are the worst of times'; I do believe it's true")

"Only Women Bleed," Alice Cooper (in Trump's America, anyway)

"Something In the Air," Thunderclap Newman ("Because the revolution's here")

"Runaway," Jefferson Starship (You don't know how much I want to!)

"Black Friday," Steely Dan (Trump gets sworn in on a Friday)

"Peace Frog," the Doors ("Blood in the streets of the town of Chicago")

"Fallen Eagle," Stephen Stills and Manassas ("Fly on up to Canada, this country isn't safe anymore")

"Lit Up," Buckcherry ("Tell me, are you f--king high?")

"Harry Truman," Chicago (America really does need him!)

"Free Me," Roger Daltrey ("Take me to hell, and let me stay, if that's the price I have to pay")

"Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)," Billy Joel (an apocalyptic sci-fi song coincidentally mentioning the year Trump takes office)

"Atlantis," Donovan (because I'd rather be on a sunken continent than in Trump's America!)  

"My Last Mistake," Dan Auerbach (I think we just made it!)

"Run With the Pack," Bad Company ("I'm leaving you . . . you won't even see me, no no, for dust!")

"Wooden Ships," Crosby, Stills and Nash (leaving a wasted land for a better place)

"Space Captain," Joe Cocker (because while some of us may be able to escape America, none of us can escape the planet)

"Time," Pink Floyd ("One day closer to death!") 

 And of course . . .

"Bad Moon Rising," Creedence Clearwater Revival (about the end of everything)

Hope you are quite prepared to die.  Looks like we're in for nasty weather.