It was a quick turnaround on the recording of a true 2020 tune, BԪַThe Ballad of Bonnie HenryBԪַ.
The song was written for B.C.BԪַs provincial health officer by Order of Canada jazz musician , who is also a lawyer from Qualicum Beach.
It features Tina Jones (Gabriola Island) on voice and banjo, Daniel Lapp (Pender Island) on fiddle, Ben Dwyer (Toronto) on acoustic bass and Dwyer on the music, lyrics and production.
It was mixed and mastered in Nanaimo by Rick Salt from Mountainview Studio.
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Dwyer thought up the lyrics to the song after a concert at Qualicum BeachBԪַs Old School House Arts Centre. He dedicated BԪַAinBԪַt Misbehavin,BԪַ a jazz song written in the 1920s, to Dr. Henry. The next morning, he got up, wrote the lyrics, and posted them online.
BԪַI thought, IBԪַm just going to pop this on the interweb because itBԪַs gotta be better than looking at some clip of a Donald Trump press conference,BԪַ he said. BԪַAnd a couple of friends of mine got back to me right away.BԪַ
From there, he decided he needed to put it to music, so he quickly put together a cast of musicians to get it done.
The song description on SoundCloud says the song is written for Henry, along with BԪַall the other hard-working people in the health care sector.BԪַ It asks listeners to consider making a donation to the , which is raising money for COVID-19 relief efforts. Donations are currently being matched by Gore Mutual.
The lyrics to DwyerBԪַs song:
She comes on the radio, just around 3
with the public health news for the folks of BC
and to talk of a crisis, of a scope yet unseen
with an ungainly moniker, Covid-19
From the start, at the top of her list of demands,
was we lather with soap and please wash off our hands,
and as things took a turn for the worse day by day,
that we keep friends and neighbours a good six feet away
SheBԪַs had lots of help in her search for a fix,
not the least of whom is Mr. Adrian Dix,
in the eyes of the public though, sheBԪַs been the one
that has been with us since this whole thing has begun,
As nurses and doctors proceed with their tasks,
and pray for enough ventilators and masks,
she asks us to all help and flatten the curve,
and that from her health policy we do not swerve,
If we all stick together and see this thing through
we can show what a civil society can do
when itBԪַs faced with a threat that first seemed unreal
but that now, it is obvious, is the real deal
So please follow the guidelines that she has laid out
it is going to be worth it, of that thereBԪַs no doubt
and if you turn on your radio, just around 3
the voice that you hear is of Bonnie Henry
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