Wear a mask and you will thank your lucky stars
Jewish Telegraph, July 2021
SINGER-songwriter Dean Friedman obviously doesn’t agree with the British Government’s announcement that face masks shouldn’t be compulsory after July 19.
The American has a song on his forthcoming album, American Lullaby, called Wear a Mask.
Lyrics include: “We all long for the day this awful scourge will pass, and the virus will be gone without a trace. Until that day, don’t be an ass! Keep that mask upon your face.”
American Lullaby — released on August 27 on Friedman’s Real Life Records label — touches on a broad range of topics, including looming environmental disaster, racism, sexism and an intractable culture war.
The title track is about America’s 400-year love affair with guns, while Halfway Normal World is a yearning for the end of lockdowns.
The Russians Are Coming!, according to Friedman, is “a 100 per cent factual narrative based on the ‘Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Russian Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election’.
In addition, Friedman — who found fame in the late 1970s with Lucky Stars and Ariel — has penned a replacement to Happy Birthday. Just Another Birthday Song is his answer to the 125-year-old song written by the Hill sisters.
“American Lullaby reflects my personal take on all the crazy stuff that’s been happening, in America — and around the world — for the last six years,” the 66-year-old said.
“Like all lullabies, it’s filled with tales of dark deeds and disaster, but couched in soft, gentle tones, meant to soothe and comfort the listener, while gently bracing them for the potential terrors that await.”
The album is somewhat of a family affair too, featuring children Hannah and Sam on a number of tracks, and his brother Aram.
Friedman dedicates American Lullaby to the “millions of people who, tragically, left this earth much too soon, owing to the hubris and sheer incompetence of world leaders . . .”.
Friedman will premiere the album with a six-night ‘virtual’ show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival from August 13.
Deanfriedman.com
