Songs to wash your hands to when 'Happy Birthday' doesn't cut it
With the outbreak of coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19, now a pandemic, one of the simplest ways to keep yourself and others safe is by washing your hands.
The CDC recommends soaping up for at least 20 seconds — or the time it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" twice. But what if you can't handle that particular earworm dozens of time a day?
Enter the good samaritans of Twitter, who have been finding alternative songs with 20 second choruses. A Twitter thread created by Twitter user Jen Monnier includes a plethora of songs — and other Twitter users chimed in to give their best option for a 20-second ditty as well.
You're supposed to wash your hands for 20 sec, which is the time it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice. But I'm tired of singing Happy Birthday and you probably are too, so I've done the very important public service of compiling other songs with roughly 20 sec choruses to sing:
— Jen Monnier (@JenMonnier) March 2, 2020
One Twitter user replied, "I use one verse of My Sharona, but sung as My Carona." Too far?
Savannah Guthrie took a creative approach by making up a song for Vale called "The Corona Shuffle."
And a new website Wash Your Lyrics even generates a hand-washing infographic for the song of your choice.
Dr. Ana Flavia Zuim, Director of Vocal Performance at NYU Steinhardt School, recommends jazzing up your hand-washing routine with a musical theater song, because why not put on a show if you're going to be singing to yourself?
Dr. Zuim's suggestions include "My Shot" from the hit musical Hamilton, or, for a more comedic take, "Hands Clean," by Alanis Morisette. Isn't it ironic?
Songs to sing while washing hands
1. "Love On Top," by Beyoncé
2. "Truth Hurts," by Lizzo
3. "Jolene," by Dolly Parton
4. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," from the Wizard of Oz
5. "The Sound of Music," from The Sound of Music
6. "My Shot," from Hamilton
7. "Hands Clean," by Alanis Morisette
8. "Karma Chameleon," by Culture Club
9. "Stayin' Alive," by The BeeGees (also a favorite song for performing CPR)
10. "Toxic," by Britney Spears
11. "Livin' On a Prayer," by Bon Jovi
12. "No Scrubs," by TLC
13. "Raspberry Beret," by Prince
14. "Landslide," by Fleetwood Mac
15. "Love Shack" by The B-52's
People have even made coronavirus hand-washing playlists on spotify:
Now there's no excuse not to wash your hands. Clean lyrics optional.
