Michael Stipe is sharing advice on how to handle the era of coronavirus.
On Tuesday, the artist shared a video on Twitter and his own website, MichaelStipe.com, showing him singing a little of the R.E.M. hit that re-entered the iTunes Top 100 last week—”It’s End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”—with some important COVID-19 protection tips.
“I do feel fine. I feel okay,” Stipe said after singing a couple of lines of the cut from R.E.M.’s 1987 Document. “The important part of that lyric, that song title, is ‘As We Know It.’ We’re about to go through – we are going through something that none of us have ever encountered before and that is, of course, the coronavirus. And it’s real and it’s serious and it’s here.”
Stipe noted in the longer version of his video on his website (a shorter clip is on Twitter) that he has been in contact with friends in Italy, a country facing an outbreak of the virus, and taken their advice.
“I’m bunkering. I’m quarantining. I’m Q.S.Q – quasi self-quarantined for several days now and that’s going to continue because I don’t want to go outside, I don’t want to be responsible for getting someone else sick if I’m already sick. I don’t think I am, but none of us know if we are,” Stipe noted.
He also shared several tips including a reminder to wash one’s hands for 20 seconds.
“Don’t sing ‘Happy Birthday’ twice. It’s already depressing and sad. Find another song, a good, happy, calming song–your like, blue skies song and do that,” he recommended.
Stipe also suggested others stay inside, like he’s been doing, and to find reliable sources when seeking information on COVID-19, while also hinting that he’s working on something new.
“Be careful where you get your information from. I’m a former pop star, well, I’m writing again, but whatever, that’s not for now. Go to the CDC, go to trusted news sources,” he said, adding “stay at home.”
Check out the snippet below:
Message from Michael… Longer version on https://t.co/UXmfpJhgaJ pic.twitter.com/0LSWqTU6Eq
— R.E.M. HQ (@remhq) March 18, 2020
