We've reached the 21st century in our quest of finding the catchiest choruses of them all (gotta catch'em all) for you to sing along to as you wash your hands for at least 20 seconds.
Why? Well, you must know this by now, the World Health Organisation and governments around the world are giving us one thing to do as we fight the once-in-a-century pandemic known as the Corona Virus. The virus is not airborne so the only way to get it into your system is by you touching a surface with the virus on it, and then you touch your face and then the virus is able to infect you.
The problem is that the virus is truly out there, so that's why everyone is being urged to wash their hands once they enter their homes again after being out, before eating, and basically after coming into contact with any surface that a lot of other people have also touched (elevator buttons, doorknobs, handrails, etc.). But this virus does not survive soap as soap breaks down the fat that holds the virus together. That's why everyone's being urged to thoroughly wash their hands with soap, for at least 20 seconds each time.
To count out the 20 seconds, why make it boring, when you can make it fun. We've been looking for the best 20-second choruses we can find to make all this handwashing a less of a chore. They're sorted by decade, so you can more easily find what could become your perfect handwashing jam.
The 2000s was when a lot of our current music royalty was either starting out or really in their prime, Beyoncé is in Destiny's Child producing bangers, we've got tiny little adorable versions of pop power-houses Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, and Jay-Z is on a roll. Lots of story-telling in the music, and you know what that means: catchy choruses. None of that 90s dreariness any longer, we're back to some real bops.
Here are our handwashing jams of the 2000s.
Say My Name – Destiny's Child
Say my name, say my name
If no one is around you, say baby I love you
If you ain't runnin' games
Say my name, say my name
You actin' kinda shady, ain't callin' me baby
Why the sudden change?
Say my name, say my name
If no one is around you, say baby I love you
If you ain't runnin' games
Say my name, say my name
You actin' kinda shady, ain't callin' me baby
Better say my name
Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys
In New York,
Concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There's nothin' you can't do
Now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York
Taylor Swift – You Belong With Me
But she wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts
She's Cheer Captain and I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find
That what you're looking for has been here the whole time
If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along, so why can't you see?
You belong with me, you belong with me
Taio Cruz - Dynamite
I throw my hands up in the air sometimes
Saying ayeoh, gotta let go
I wanna celebrate and live my life
Saying ay-oh, baby let's go
'Cause we gon' rock this club
We gon' go all night
We gon' light it up
Like it's dynamite
'Cause I told you once
Now I told you twice
We gon' light it up
Like it's dynamite
Katy Perry – I Kissed A Girl
I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chap stick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it
It's inevitable that some of us are going to be having a Bad Day or know someone who is as we face this outbreak nay pandemic. Sometimes it helps to have a song that really captures that feeling so you don't feel like you're all alone in the world. And you can trust you are definitely not alone in dealing with this virus, it is a global pandemic so it is definitely all of us right there with you. Which makes it critical for us to stretch that if you're watching the video as well, please do not become jealous of those folks living in the early 2000s who could just freely touch those subway poles and then their face like it's nothing. Those days are gone now.
Daniel Powter – Bad Day
'Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile, and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down, and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
And who says anything about it needing it to be exactly a chorus. What matters is that it counts out 20 seconds. We've ignored the genre of rap so far, but why not take a shot at the most meme-d rap verse of them all, Eminem's Lose Yourself's spaghetti verse.
Yo
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgettin'
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out
He's chokin', how, everybody's jokin' now
The clocks run out, times up, over, blaow!
Another iconic non-chorus, the first verse of Avril Lavigne's Sk8er Boi
He was a boy
She was a girl
Can I make it any more obvious?
He was a punk
She did ballet
What more can I say?
He wanted her
She'd never tell
Secretly she wanted him as well
But all of her friends
Stuck up their nose
They had a problem with his baggy clothes
And a final rap-flow thing you are bound to know, this part of Ciara and Missy Elliot's 1, 2 Step
The princess is here, Ciara!
This beat is
Automatic, supersonic, hypnotic, funky fresh
Work my body, so melodic this beat flows right through my chest
Everybody, ma and papi came to party, grab somebody
Work your body, work your body, let me see you 1, 2 step
and of course, the Bon Jovi of the 00s, Mr. Brightside by The Killers is of course included.
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibis
But it's just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
'Cause I'm Mr. Brightside
Or the actual undisputed anthem of the 00s, Miley Cyrus – Party in the USA of course has a chorus that fits the bill. You know you know the words already.
So I put my hands up
They're playing my song,
And the butterflies fly away
Noddin' my head like, yeah
Movin' my hips like, yeah
I got my hands up,
They're playin' my song
You know I'm gonna be okay
Yeah, it's a party in the USA
Yeah it's a party in the USA
