DAN BERN
Dan Bern always has been a prolific singer-songwriter, and it’s not like he was going to let a little thing like a pandemic stop him. In fact, he has become, possibly, more productive than ever.
Over the past month, he has been presenting regular shows (some for children) titled “Hunkered in the Bunker” on his Facebook page. He also has assembled a digital album of original Coronavirus Era-themed songs titled Quarantine Me. It is available at danbern.bandcamp.com/album/quarantine-me-2, with proceeds going to “virus causes,” he says.
One one of the songs, “Love in the Time of Plague,” seven musicians joined him, adding their parts remotely. Another, “Til the Quarantine Is Thru” (see video below), is a whimsical, upbeat, folksy look at all the ways we can be making use of our time at home.
He sings in one of the verses:
Maybe we’ll get real good at organizing socks
All our favorite clips be placed in a special box
Listen to the works of Woody, Bob and Bruce
Read your old comic books; catch up on Marcel Proust.
After bringing up a number of other possibilities, he ends with:
Maybe we’ll drink lemonade, every day at 5
And listen to the folksingers on the Facebook Live.
I’m not sure if this was his intent, but the way he pronounces “quarantine” (as if it rhymed with “fine,” not “seen”) makes it sound more old-timey to me.
Fans can support Bern via PayPal (dbhq@danbern.com) or Venmo (@Dan-Bern-1). For more on him, visit danbern.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.
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