Covid Folk Songs 2020

Covid Folk Song Collecting
Towards the end of May 2020 one of our members had a conversation about the limits to protesting at that moment: no physical meet-ups, and hard to get an emotional word in edgeways on social media. She and her friend agreed that the protest song could be making a resurgence among folkies like us making and performing Covid songs, and she wondered if anyone was collecting or promoting these songs.

Somebody might be - or be going to be - doing this properly, but we thought we'd make a small and rudimentary start, by listing here the Covid-related songs that have been sung at our Morris Folk Club (currently online, of course), with lyrics and relevant links where possible. We will also note other songs that we've come across that have been performed at other online folk clubs and/or posted online.

I don't know what the best order/layout/structure for this would be, but I'm just going to make a start and see how it evolves. For now there will be a list of songs at the top of the page, hyperlinked to the details of those songs further down the page.

The copyright of all these lyrics, of course, belongs to the rightful owners.


Covid Songs at Morris Folk Club
Flatten The Curve
(Fathom The Bowl, lyrics rewritten by Barnie Matthews for The Longest Johns, sung by Caroline Stupnicka at Morris Folk Club, March 2020)

Love Is
(Simon Wells/Karine Polwart, with an added topical verse by Fiona Clark, sung by Fiona at Morris Folk Club, March 2020)

When This Lousy Covid's Over
(When This Lousy War Is Over, lyrics rewritten by Kim Ormond of Croydon Male Voice Choir, sung by Peter Gillman at a Morris Folk Choir rehearsal/get-together on Zoom, April 2020)

The Other Side
(song by Maddie Carty, with added rap by Jay, performed by Maddie and Jay at Morris Folk Club, April 2020)

Erase Your Virus
(Raise Your Voice, by Jess Arrowsmith of Melrose Quartet, lyrics rewritten by Seth Gillman, sung by Seth at Morris Folk Club, April 2020)

Isolation Hotel
(song by Suzanne Gailey, sung by Suzanne at Morris Folk Club, April 2020)

Self-Isolating Stranger
(Poor Wayfaring Stranger, lyrics rewritten by Jon Windeatt, sung by Jon at Morris Folk Club, May 2020)

Farther Along
(lyrics rewritten by Ginny Page, sung by Iain MacDonald at Morris Folk Club, May 2020)

She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain
(lyrics rewritten by Trev Williams, sung by Trev at Morris Folk Club, May 2020)

Only Remembered
(lyrics rewritten by club members on the day, sung by Michelle Woolfenden at Morris Folk Club, May 2020)

Keeping Strong During Lockdown
(poem written by Olivia Namutebi, performed by Olivia at Morris Folk Club, June 2020)


Song Lyrics and Information

Flatten The Curve
(Fathom The Bowl, lyrics rewritten by Barnie Matthews for The Longest Johns, sung by Caroline Stupnicka at Morris Folk Club, March 2020)

A video of The Longest Johns singing Flatten The Curve (Youtube, 20th March).


Love Is
(Simon Wells/Karine Polwart, with an added topical verse by Fiona Clark, sung by Fiona at Morris Folk Club, March 2020)

A video of Fiona Clark singing Love Is, with added topical verse (Youtube, April 2020).


When This Lousy Covid's Over
(When This Lousy War Is Over, lyrics rewritten by Kim Ormond of Croydon Male Voice Choir, sung by Peter Gillman at a Morris Folk Choir rehearsal/get-together on Zoom, April 2020

When this lousy Covid’s over
Oh how happy I will be
No more isolating lock down
I’ll be happy, I’ll be free

No more queuing outside Tesco
No more searching for a slot
All the hoarding won’t be needed
It will probably all rot

Now’s the time to praise the workers
Who are helping us get through
The NHS has been fantastic
So from all of us – Thank You


The Other Side
(song by Maddie Carty, with added rap by Jay, performed by Maddie and Jay at Morris Folk Club, April 2020)

A video of Maddie Carty singing The Other Side (Youtube, 7th April).


Erase Your Virus
(Raise Your Voice, by Jess Arrowsmith of Melrose Quartet, lyrics rewritten by Seth Gillman, sung by Seth at Morris Folk Club, April 2020)

Once there was a choir who had to isolate
They still sang on Tuesdays to try to compensate
They played guitar, banjo and flute, while the others were on mute
Why not come online and be a Morris mate?

Chorus:
Erase your virus and mine
For now’s the perfect time
To avoid the throng

Once there was a choir who were in quarantine
They had to wash their hands wherever they had been
Some were put on furlough, so drank their Chardonnay and Merlot
While they were on the Job Retention Scheme

Chorus

Once there was a virus and it was called Corona
It stopped me going on a trip to Barcelona
Can’t find no sanitiser but got my gin and appletiser
The kebab shop’s shut, can’t get no shish or doner

Chorus

We all love our choir but have to socially distance
We’re following the guidelines at the government’s insistence
Johnson’s out of isolation but it’s no time for celebration
When thousands have been spaffed out of existence

Chorus

We still sing together but we meet on zoom
We’re all at home in kitchen, lounge or dining room
There’s many faces on our screens, like 8x8 or teams
Let’s hope we’re back at Barnabas real soon

Chorus

We don’t know when we’ll see our Morris mates again
We’d love to sing of Ghafoor’s Bus and the Cutty Wren
For now we’ll stay apart, but will return in jolly heart
We’ll be loud and proud with all our Morris friends

Chorus



Isolation Hotel
(song by Suzanne Gailey, sung by Suzanne at Morris Folk Club, April 2020)

She looks out of the window,
Thinking about the time when she was outside
When she spies a little shadow
Creeping in the corner giving her the eye

Welcome guests of the Isolation Hotel
The distance space between us fits so well
Are we here together
or alone

He looks up to the ceiling
Breathing in the silence of the space
Whats that lurking up above him
Staring at the half light
of his own face

Welcome guests of the Isolation Hotel
The distance space between us fits so well
Are we here together
or alone

The streets are empty and quiet
Nothing breaks the silence, they've all gone away
The sun breaks over the horizon
Its the start of another ground hog day

Welcome guests of the Isolation Hotel
The distance space between us fits so well
Are we here together
or alone
Alone but not alone


Self-Isolating Stranger
(Poor Wayfaring Stranger, lyrics rewritten by Jon Windeatt, sung by Jon at Morris Folk Club, May 2020)

I'm a self-isolating stranger
I'm sat here all alone
Ain't no sickness, toil nor danger
If I only stay at home

I ain't going to see my father
He is safely locked at home
I only see him on the Facetime
He won't learn to use Zoom

I know dark clouds are gathered o'er us
I know our way is long and steep
But bright freedom waits before us
If this lockdown we can keep

I wanna join with you together
When we get to this promised land
I want to sing salvation's glory
In concert with this Morris band


Farther Along
(lyrics rewritten by Ginny Page, sung by Iain MacDonald at Morris Folk Club, May 2020)

Tempted and tried, we're oft made to wonder
Why it should be so, all the day long
While there are others living among us
Never molested, though in the wrong

Chorus:
Farther along we'll know all about it
Farther along we'll understand why
Cheer up my darling, live in the sunshine
We'll understand it all by and by

When we are home, and self-isolating
Often so far from ones we hold dear
Then do we wonder why some still gather
(When) WhatsApp and Zoom can bring friends so near

Chorus

When we have data, crunched by the experts
When there's a vaccine, and UBI
Then we shall meet with no fear or worry
(And) we'll understand it all by and by

Chorus


She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain
(lyrics rewritten by Trev Williams, sung by Trev at Morris Folk Club, May 2020)

She'll be climbing up the mountain on her stairs...
She’ll be wearing her pyjamas all day long...
And we’ll stay 2 metres from her when she comes...
And we’ll all dance together one day soon...

Singing ey ey ippy ippy ey!


Only Remembered
(lyrics rewritten by club members on the day, sung by Michelle Woolfenden at Morris Folk Club, May 2020)

We’ve all had to stay in our houses for lockdown.
Some with no garden or much space to run
You might steal our future, but you’ll not steal our glory.
Only remembered for what we have done.

Chorus:
Only remembered, only remembered,
Only remembered for what we have done.
You might steal our future, but you’ll not steal our glory.
Only remembered for what we have done.

Who’ll make the sacrifice we all need to make?
Who’ll make their own rules for their own sake?
You might steal...

Who do we shield and who is essential?
Who do we turn to when bad times have come?
You might steal...

Chorus

Who are the workers who care for our loved ones?
Where are the wages that show what they’ve done?
You might steal...

Doctors and drivers and shop staff and nurses
Teachers and children and everyone.
You might steal...

Chorus

Where are the leaders we look to for guidance?
Who care more for others, than cruel ambition?
You might steal...

Who’ll show contrition, and who’ll tell us the truth?
Where are the leaders who’ll lead us as one?
You might steal...

Chorus

Where are the workers who’ve died for our loved ones?
Self-sacrificing like God’s only son.
You might steal...

Where are the long lists of names in the papers?
Who are the children, the fathers, the mums?
You might steal...

Chorus

Who’ll sing the anthem and who’ll tell the story?
When will the mother embrace her dear son?
You might steal...


Keeping Strong During Lockdown
(poem written by Olivia Namutebi, performed by Olivia at Morris Folk Club, June 2020)
Text of the poem (Women For Refugee Women website).