Pop Shots – 9 Songs for Your Coronavirus Playlist


Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. As longtime readers know, I have a habit of making playlists for pretty much everything – from holidays, to lung surgery. This week, with the coronavirus on everyone’s mind, I’ve made a playlist dedicated to the sickness that’s sweeping the world. So wash your hands for at least 20 seconds, and enjoy the tunes!

Of course, since this is Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.


The Police – Don’t Stand So Close to Me


We have an idea of how the coronavirus is spread, so please take the words of Sting literally, and “don’t stand so close to me.”


Britney Spears – Toxic


“The taste of your lips / I’m on a ride / You’re toxic I’m slippin' under …”

Shout out to Britney Spears for giving us a strong reminder not to make out with strangers during a pandemic.


Disturbed – Down With The Sickness


What’s the diagnosis, doc?

“I can see inside you, the sickness is rising / Don’t try to deny what you feel.”

Well, that’s f*cking dark.


Fuel – Hemorrhage


“Hold me now I feel contagious.”

Actually, I’m pretty sure that if you’re contagious the last thing I want to do is hold you. Please refer to The Police lyric from earlier and take a few steps back.


Matchbox Twenty – Unwell


“I’m not crazy, I’m just a little unwell.”

Sorry Rob Thomas, but at this point “crazy” is the better diagnosis.


System of a Down – Toxicity


With every new case of coronavirus that’s discovered we have to deal with “the toxicity of our city,” and the fact that “somewhere, between the sacred silence and sleep / Disorder, disorder, disorder!”

Anyone have any seeds?


Huey Lewis and the News – I Want a New Drug


Right now the entire world wants a new drug, preferably one that won’t make us sick, won’t make us crash our car, or make us feel three-feet thick.

Of course, “I Want a New Drug” was on the Huey Lewis and the News album Sports, and “when Sports came out in ’83 I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far much more bitter, cynical sense of humor …”


The Black Crowes – Remedy


Every government in the world is singing this one to their respective scientists, pleading, “Can I have some remedy? / All I want is a remedy.”


R.E.M. – It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)


For those of us who’ve been watching the news, but (thankfully) aren’t afflicted with the coronavirus, our general vibe is, “It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.”


That’s all for this edition of Pop Shots, but come back next Monday for more shots on all things pop.

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