Across the globe, many have taken to song during the coronavirus pandemic, whether it be quarantine balcony performances in Paris, Andrea Bocelli’s lonely concert in Milan, Italy, or Mister Cumbia’s surprisingly popular La Cumbia del Coronavirus.
On Wednesday evening, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mayor Célida López Cárdenas decided it was time to add her voice to the chorus.
A self-taught and newly-minted musician, López posted a minute-long video with a coronavirus stay-at-home message to her Twitter account, showing her playing guitar and singing in her kitchen. As of Friday morning it had garnered 38,000 views.
The lyrics of the song she composed plead with citizens to stay at home and warn of arrests and fines if they do not comply.
“Stay at home, listen to us and help us now! Stay at home or I will fine you! Stay at home please, whoever does not stay at home will be arrested! If you don’t stay home then don’t complain if there aren’t enough hospitals for everyone!” she sings while strumming a one-chord melody on an acoustic guitar, finishing off with “Hooray for your mayor’s talent!”
Por ustedes por su vida no hay nada que esté a mi alcance que no vaya hacer. Les canto esta canción con mucho cariño ya no sé cómo pedirles se queden en casa. Aaaa y por favor no sean gach@s no me insulten ya se que canto feo !!! pic.twitter.com/qZrSRaL1GT
— CELIDA LOPEZ (@CelidaLopezc) April 30, 2020
On April 14, the Hermosillo municipal council announced strict stay-at-home measures, with fines of up to 8,800 pesos, around US $356, for anyone who leaves their home for nonessential reasons or travels with a passenger in their vehicle.
Police report that during the first two days of the edict around 130 people were fined and that number has since soared to more than 1,000.
As of Friday morning, Hermosillo, which has a population of 946,000, had reported 215 positive cases of the coronavirus and 20 deaths.
Reactions to the mayor’s musical effort were mixed. Some Twitter commenters thanked her for the laugh, others said they were ashamed to call her mayor and several suggested she should work on writing a song called “I will pave the streets.”
Source: La Jornada (sp)
