the story
One thing this pandemic has shown all of us is how essential and underappreciated our healthcare, custodial, food supply, and delivery workers are. They have continued to work and risk their lives to take care of the rest of us.
I have four family members on the front lines of this Covid19 pandemic: a NJ ICU nurse aunt, an NYC anesthesiologist cousin and his ER doctor wife, and a NJ EMT cousin. I’m inspired by all of them, but a comment from my Aunt Clare is what gave me the idea to write my song “Superheroes in Disguise.” She’s been an ICU nurse for 30 years, and I’ve never heard her complain once. She told me that the Covid ICU was like a war zone and she felt like a veteran returning from the Vietnam War because people could not understand what healthcare workers were going through. It was then that I realized that THEY were true superheroes - superheroes in disguise. Society tends to idolize and compensate celebrities and athletes for their talents, but take for granted those we really need in a crisis such as Covid19. The song was written in the next 24 hours. I self produced it and played it for her on her birthday, which coincided with International Nurses Day. That's Aunt Clare on the song cover!
If you're a frontline worker, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!
Lyrics
Superheroes in disguise
Heavy hearts, eyes to the skies
Just by being there
You were the answer to our prayers
Took us too long to realize
We had it all wrong, had it all wrong
For so long, for so long
We had it all wrong, had it all wrong
The going got tough
And you were the one who marched on woah
Out on the frontline, risking your own lives
You marched on woah
While we were inside, on you we relied
Held the hands of those alone
While out there fighting the unknown
You marched on woah
The going got tough
And you were the one who marched on woah
You marched on woah
Battle scars indented lines
Black and blue out and inside
Surrounded by fear
It was you who persevered
Took us too long to realize
We had it all wrong, had it all wrong
For so long, for so long
We had it all wrong, had it all wrong
The going got tough
And you were the one who marched on woah
Out on the frontline, risking your own lives
You marched on woah
While we were inside, on you we relied
Held the hands of those alone
While out there fighting the unknown
You marched on woah
The going got tough
And you were the one who marched on woah
You marched on woah
When fire raged and help was asked
You dawned a new kind of hero mask
And you marched on woah
Out on the frontline, risking your own lives
You marched on woah
While we were inside, on you we relied
Held the hands of those alone
While out there fighting the unknown
You marched on woah
The going got tough
And you were the one who marched on woah
You marched on woah
(You were the one who marched on…)