“Life in a Pandemic (Don’t It Stink?)” is a parody of Alanis Morissette’s hit song, “Ironic”.
Marking the one-year anniversary of the pandemic where the whole country went into lockdown and quarantine, one Selwyn family paid tribute to the milestone parodying Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic”.
“Life in a Pandemic (Don’t it Stink?)” was created by the Kelly family featuring singer and acting student, Ashton Kelly. The video was a challenge, taking three days to film and a week and a half to produce it according to Ashton’s mother Deborah Kelly.
“Our goal was to spend some time together as a family having some creative fun during these dark times, and maybe lifting some spirits along the way,” said Deborah. “My daughter is a singer and an acting student so this is right up her alley.”
The video copies Morisette’s, shot-for-shot with pop culture references and recognizable local spots. The Go Express Marts gas station across from the Lakefield Animal Welfare Society and the Peterborough Lift Lock canal are some localized shots taken for the parody.
“This isn’t meant to diminish the struggle many (are) facing over the state of our world,” said Ashton in a Facebook post. “This is only to spread some laughs and lightheartedness to enjoy with your family!”
The mother-daughter duo wrote the lyrics with Mark Russell, Deborah’s partner, filmed and (mostly) edited the video.
They chose “Ironic” since it was recognizable, iconic and Morrisette was Canadian.
“We really wanted to keep it lighthearted and fun to spread some cheer during these challenging times,” said Deborah.
This was the second parody video the family had created. The first copied Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” titled, “Something to Do-ah (The Isolation Song)” was released in early April last year.
The song was shot as an original since Cohen’s version did not have an official music video and has almost 28,000 views on YouTube. The parody makes its own pop culture references such as the toilet paper shortage and the hit Netflix show, “Tiger King”.
The first video’s success inspired the family to create the second parody as they were proud and surprised at the song’s success according to Deborah.
“We had such a positive response and such a blast creating it that we decided to do another one this year,” she said.