Susan Werner creates timely ‘Songs of Social Distance’ series

Susan Werner in her “These Different Days” video.

With rolls of toilet paper stacked behind her, Susan Werner sings of a romantic date that ends not with a kiss but “with just a wave goodbye” in “These Different Days,” from her new “Songs of Social Distance” video series.

I’ve embedded three of these songs below: “These Different Days” plus “Quarantined,” in which she sings “If I gotta be quarantined, then I wanna be quarantined with you”; and “Swiffer Swiffer.” This last song, whose name references a line of cleaning products, is a humorous look at a quarantined woman who cleans obsessively.

“Though I clean to keep the virus from our quarters, I can’t clean enough to put the whole world back in order,” Werner sings, wistfully.

Werner is a longtime mainstay of the singer-songwriter circuit; she was based in Philadelphia for many years but now lives in Chicago. Her musical tastes have always been eclectic, and the”Songs of Social Distance” finds her performing mostly in a jazz/cabaret style.

Also in response to the coronavirus crisis, she has been doing “Susie on Sunday” FacebookLive concerts; the next one is March 29 at 7 p.m. EDT., with sign language interpreter Jody Prysock joining her. And she is collecting her “Songs of Social Distance” entries — there are seven now, with more surely to come — on her YouTube Page. For information and updates, visit susanwerner.com.

NJArts.net’s Songs to See Us Through series is designed to spotlight songs relevant to the coronavirus crisis and encourage readers to support the artists who made them (and won’t be able to generate income via concerts at this time). Click here for links to all songs in the series.

We encourage artists to email us submissions (newly recorded, if possible) at njartsdaily@gmail.com. Please include links to sites such as Patreon and Venmo. Readers can also make suggestions via that email address.