never thought a little ditty that popped into his head after a cough and a throat tickle would catch on.
Bein, a native of western Massachusetts and longtime stand-up comedy instructor at ImprovBoston, says he was sitting on his sofa when he thought up the lyrics to what became "Coronavirus Rhapsody," a riff off the Queen hit, "Bohemian Rhapsody."
I've lost my mind.
— Dana Jay Bein (#DJB) #CoronavirusRhapsody (@danajaybein)
I wrote Coronavirus Rhapsody:
Is this a sore throat?
Is this just allergies?
Caught in a lockdown
No escape from reality.
"I was feeling some cold and allergy symptoms and I had a scratch in my throat, and just like everybody else right now, that makes you super anxious," he explains. "In that anxiety I sang out loud the first two lines, which became the impetus for the parody."
Is this a sore throat? Is this just allergies?
Bein wrote the rest of the song — noting that a lot of the song's original lyrics fit perfectly as-is — and, because he had a sore throat and wasn't able to sing it, posted it on Twitter to let the masses have at it.
And, of course, the Internet .
One of the more popular versions shared around the web is the one above, featuring vocals from Adrian Grimes. Comedian Whoopi Goldberg even a version on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Bein is at home, feeling better, and enjoying that in this time of uncertainty he put a thing out into the world that made people smile for a little bit. "Laughter connects you to people — it's hard to forget a belly laugh," he says.
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