As coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, celebrities are beginning to reach out to their fans, bluntly asking them to follow the measures recommended to flatten the curve and stay home.
Neil Diamond, on the other hand, chose a much more creative method to influence his followers.
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Unless, by some unlikely chance, you’ve been living under a rock for the last month, you’re probably painfully aware of the strange, concerning times we’re currently living in.
The new roaring ’20s are definitely roaring — and not in a good way.
Life as we know it has come to a halt— and rightfully so — in an effort to slow down the spread of the virus.
Everyone is being asked to stay home and practice social distancing until further notice.
COVID-19 is especially dangerous for the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.
While you may not necessarily fall into either of those categories, you can still contract it and accidentally transmit it to someone who does.
So, it is important for everyone to work together to protect the people who are at risk!
Sadly, despite the death toll being over 17,000 and counting, there are still plenty of people ignoring the instructions from health care professionals, WHO, and the government.
So, to combat those who are not practicing social distancing, celebrities, and those in influential positions, have been taking to social media — spreading the word to stay home.
For example, the governor of New York shared a video messgae from Danny DeVito on Twitter, asking everyone to stay home.
“Hi everybody, it’s Danny DeVito, and I’m asking you from the bottom of my heart — all over the state of New York — stay home,” he said.
“I mean everybody. I mean, we got this virus — this pandemic, and you know, young people can get it”.
“And they can transmit it to old people, and the next thing you know, I’m outta there.”
And Taylor Swift.
Taylor took to Instagram to single out the people who have continued living their regular lives, partying and hanging out in groups, asking them to start making “social sacrifices” for the rest of the world’s benefit.
And Lady Gaga.
“So I talked to some doctors and scientists. It’s not the easiest for everyone right now but the kindest/healthiest thing we can do is self-quarantine and not hang out with people over 65 and in large groups,” she wrote. “I wish I could see my parents and grandmas right now but it’s much safer to not so I don’t get them sick in case I have it.”
And Ariana Grande.
Ari expressed how surprised she was to hear that so many people are still being so careless — urging her followers to start taking this situation more seriously.
Anyways, Neil Diamond took a more creative approach to spread awareness.
He took his famous 1969 song, “Sweet Caroline” (AKA my go-to karaoke track), and turned it into a social distancing anthem!
He posted a video (featuring his adorable dog), singing his “Sweet Caroline” remix.
“I know we’re going through a rough time right now, but I love ya,” he said before beginning to sing.
“And I think maybe if we sing together, we’ll feel just a little bit better.”
Now, to refresh your memory, the original lyrics of the chorus go like this:
“Hands, touching hands /Reaching out, touching me, touching you.”
The new lyrics go like this:
“Hands, washing hands / Reaching out, don’t touch me, I won’t touch you.”
I know this was a rather simple switch in lyrics, but I gotta say, it’s kind of genius.
Neil isn’t the only musician to change up the lyrics of his own song to be more relevant to coronavirus.
Early 2000s pop sensation, Jojo , changed the lyrics of her hit song “Leave (Get Out)” to “Chill (Stay In).
It’s still catchy as hell!
So, just to recap, the moral of the story is: Stay home, wash your hands, and evidently, quarantine is the perfect time to get musically creative.
Let us know what you think of Neil Diamond’s remake of “Sweet Caroline”!
