NEW YORK — With masks over their mouths and gloves on their hands, country superstar Luke Combs and his band went to a music studio – in separate rooms – and recorded a new song reflecting the mood of a world dramatically altered by the spreading coronavirus.
Singing lyrics like “I miss my mom, I miss my dad,” Combs performed “Six Feet Apart,” a song he wrote on April 14 during a Zoom writing session with songwriters Brent Cobb and Rob Snyder.
“Six Feet Apart” recalls the simple things people miss today – embracing family members, eating at a restaurant, socializing with friends or going to a movie.
“You don’t think about how cool that stuff is to do until you don’t get to do it anymore,” Combs said.
The song was released Friday and more than 40 other tracks like it have been released in the time since the COVID-19 hit the United States in a big way in March. Most of the tracks are originals, like Combs’ tune, though some artists have re-worked older songs to make them relevant. Others have joined forces for all-star covers of songs to raise money for charities benefiting virus victims and first responders.
Bono, Bon Jovi, twenty one pilots, Pitbull, Randy Newman, OneRepublic, Lil TJay, Michael Bublé, Mike Campbell and Tye Tribbett are some of the acts who dropped original songs reflecting the current times.
Mike Love of the Beach Boys, who had to postpone 60-plus shows due to the virus, said he thought to himself while sitting at home: “What could I do musically to inject a little positivity in a situation which is primarily pretty restrictive and negative?”
Then he wrote “This Too Shall Pass,” an upbeat, Beach Boys-flavored gem brimmed with positive messages that also gives a shout-out to doctors and nurses working on the front lines. All artist and label royalties from the song will go to Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund.
Queen and Adam Lambert re-recorded the classic “We Are the Champions” and released “You Are the Champions” in support of health care workers. Gloria Estefan re-worked her upbeat 1989 single “Get On Your Feet,” calling the new version “Put Your Mask On!”
Avril Lavigne originally wrote last year’s “Warrior” about her battle with Lyme disease. She changed its lyrics and re-recorded the song to honor front line workers and titled it “We Are Warriors.” All proceeds will go to Project HOPE’s coronavirus relief efforts.
Other acts, including the Rolling Stones and Norah Jones, have released previously written songs they felt resonated right now. Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins – the Grammy-winning hitmaker who has worked with Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and Brandy – even re-worked an unfinished 17-year-old song to create an all-star gospel anthem about the world coming together.
“I was like, ’It’s not ready to put out. We can’t just put it out just because it needs to happen at a time when the world really does need to come together,'” he said. “This was the moment. This was the time when God saw fit to where it needed to come out.”
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