Thursday Influenza

Couldn't wait till Friday to share these influenza porcina-themed songs. The disease, panic and conspiracy theories are spreading quick as a sneeze, and so are related songs. God bless Mexicans' dark humor.

The video for "la cumbia de la influenza" by DF's Agrupación Cariño came out last Friday. Sample lyrics: "más vale suicidarse con taquitos de pastor" (better to commit suicide eating tacos al pastor) and "todos estaremos muertos cuando llegue Indiana Jones" (we'll all be dead by the time Indiana Jones arrives).

Jace and Wayne were all over it:

The cumbia was not only first, but it was the catchiest of the lot, and has inspired the most videos. One here, with taste disclaimer and bits of public health info projected throughout:

A techno cumbia, heavier on the tuba-like synths:

Bandaloz, a Duranguense band, was not too far behind:

A sweet acoustic rocker, set to the tune of the Cure's "Monday I'm in Love" (or as Andrés dubbed it, "Friday, I sneeze"):

A sloppy punky corrido, with a chorus reminiscent of Iggy Pop's "The Passenger" (English subtitles included):

And a reggaetón/dancehall numbah, with some weird arab references:

UPDATE: You saw it here first, but you can also hear me talking about these videos and these songs in a segment that aired on WNYC on Sunday, and this post mentioned in a Cinco-de-Mayo related roundup of music videos on the Nat Geo Music site.

Comments

[Mark Kemp]

These are great, Carolina!

[Birdseed]

Awesome set. I've been keeping an eye out in this part of the world myself, but the Mexicans have had a head start... :)

[Locanto]

oh,this influenza stuff! @Birdseed yes the Mexican people are always so creative :) lol ..

[Entrenamiento Pastor Aleman]

Muy interesante tu artículo. Gracias por la información.