MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden appears to have written the first song about coronavirus. We knew someone would, it was only a matter of time.
Earlier this week, Charli XCX and The 1975’s Matty Healy engaged in some Twitter discourse over who would be the first to record a song about the outbreak.
MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden has written a released a short snippet of a coronavirus song on Soundcloud.
“Which artist do we think will name-check coronavirus in their lyrics first?” asked Charli, before eventually being answered by Healy, referencing the delay of his band’s next album.
“Honestly why this new album is delayed.”
which artist do we think will name check coronavirus in their lyrics first?
— Charli (@charli_xcx) March 4, 2020
I basically did this tweet for you.
— Charli (@charli_xcx) March 4, 2020
Perhaps a more expected candidate, Weird Al Yankovic, quickly smothered any possibility of him taking the role, albeit compulsively sneaking a joke in.
Yeah, no, sorry. Not gonna do “My Corona.”
— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) March 3, 2020
Instead, VanWyngarden came to the fore, claiming to have nearly completed a whole song while sharing a brief snippet of it on Soundcloud.
I didn’t finish it today but this is a teaser https://t.co/N8ViSwdi3h
— sYnTh-Poppy for the DeviL (@awvanwyngarden) March 5, 2020
The song features a barely decipherable vocal performance from VanWyngarden over a 90’s-esque rave track. It’s probably not the incisive commentary on the virus we would like to expect, but it delivers on the bizarre front.
