Daily Grist #1: “The more populous the world and the more intricate its structure, the greater must be its fundamental insecurity. A world structure too elaborately scientific, if once disrupted by war, revolution, natural cataclysm or epidemic, might collapse into a chaos not easily rebuilt. (F.L. Lucas)
Daily grist #2: “Epidemics follow patterns because diseases follow patterns. Viruses spread; they reproduce; they die.” (Jill Lepore)
I am sure that there are many other versions of this type of song by now but here’s mine (just click the forward arrow on the audio above). The great thing about writing a blues song is that you don’t have to write very much melody. Bill Monroe played a lot of blues so I figure it’s fair game for a bluegrass column. We played my new song at our weekly jam in Sebastopol just as the pandemic was starting and it didn’t go over badly at all (despite being thrown together in literally fifteen minutes and being a mere four hours of age):
The Corona Virus Blues
Well, I boarded at the harbor, looking forward to my cruise
The captain comes and tells me “Son I’ve got some real bad news
“Cause this ship ain’t going’ nowhere. You can’t just pick and choose.”
Now I’m stuck on this old steamboat with the Corona virus blues
My friends won’t come to see me. They think I’m gonna die
Nobody even shakes my hand, I surely don’t know why
I don’t even have a fever. I feel completely fine.
Oh where’s my cozy deck chair? Where is my food and wine?
The news is all depressing. My portfolio is low.
I can’t afford my next cruise, not that I’d want to go
It’s no fun watching TV but what else can I do?
Tell me it’s just a bad dream, not these Corona virus blues.
I hope you are all safe and healthy. This tragedy has been more than just a bad dream. Millions of people have died since I wrote the song but with patience, science and education hopefully we can get through this terrible scourge and get back to life as we should know it. Including Bluegrass events!
