These lockdown hits will make you smile
Tuesday, 31 August 2021
Cabin-fever inspired creativity is helping many people find something to smile about.
Baked beans, creamed corn and spaghetti may sound like an unlikely recipe for a hit.
But Christchurch-based four-time national drag-racing champion and death metal vocalist Stuart Henley-Minchington has created a song dedicated to his favourite “toastie toppings” eaten during alert level 4 lockdown.
“Basically my friends and I have a healthy obsession with beans,” Henley-Minchington said of his original song Baked Beans, Creamed Corn… and Spaghetti.
Just before the latest national lockdown, he was at a jam night when a “sudden burst of inspiration hit me like a can of beans”. He finished the song this week and filmed a video to go with it.
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After releasing their third album, Nightmare Withdrawals, in March, his band Blindfolded and Led to the Woods signed to United States label Prosthetic Records.
The band has postponed a tour because of the lockdown.
“Although my main strengths are in writing and performing death metal, I think this may just be my ticket to my first Tui award,” Henley-Minchington said.
He did not recommend combining the ingredients cited in his song together.
Only time will tell if it will echo the success of a Christchurch husband and wife's black-humoured parody of Dolly Parton's classic song Jolene.
Released during lockdown last year, Jenny and Rob Payne of Vintage Blue struck a chord around the world and notched up nearly 5 million views with their parody.
Meanwhile, the life-sized model horse at Canterbury Museum has been trotted out during this latest lockdown in a bid to add a few smiles to faces during troubled times.
“The horse has been a much-loved part of our Christchurch Street exhibition since it opened in 1999, though there were ride-on horses in the museum for decades before then,” a spokesperson said.
Sitting in the saddle is something of a ride of passage for city residents – so much so the original horse was “worn out” by visitors climbing, riding and dangling from it, and had to be fully replaced in 2017.
The exhibitions team was usually busy designing, building and maintaining exhibitions but decided to indulge in a creative bit of “horseplay” during lockdown last year.
The team created a video of the horse exploring the museum in a bid to make people smile and remind them that although they could not visit, museum staff were thinking of them.
This lockdown, a slip of the tongue about social distancing from Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins offered a light-hearted moment in the pandemic response.
“It is a challenge for people in high density areas to get outside and spread their legs when they are surrounded by other people,” he said at a media briefing.
Haven’t we all mixed our words at some time? (My apologies to the Government official I recently invited to answer questions about the “lickdown”).
Hipkins’ mix-up has inspired memes, face masks, earrings and a catchy song by New Zealand artist Rei.
The North Island-based rapper, singer and producer is a multi New Zealand music award nominee with “millions of streams”.
Spread Their Legs, his collaboration with Karamu, samples Hipkins and has proved so popular it is now available on Spotify. It’s a banger.
He thanked Hipkins for being such a “good sport”.
“I had fun making the tune, was a nice break from working on my album Enjoy The Ride that’s due for release in November. And yeah it felt good to spread a bit of laughter during a tough time for all of us,” Rei said.
“Nice to have a positive kaupapa too about getting outside and exercising. Training is definitely an important part of me keeping my mental health up during lockdown.”