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Dad Nails The Feeling Everyone Has During Lockdown, Creates A Hilariously Spot-On Parody Of Adele’s “Hello” (From The Inside)

Interview With Artist

“Hello, it’s me, I’m in California dreaming about going out to eat.” These are the opening lyrics from American singer Chris Mann’s amazing music video Hello (from the Inside), a parody of Adele’s smash hit Hello.

With over 5.88 million views on YouTube, Chris’s video perfectly captures how a lot of us Pandas feel stuck inside at home all day, every day. From self-isolation and social distancing to missing the little pleasures in life, Chris touches on all the small aspects of living in “Corona life.”

I don’t know about you, dear Readers, but this is a real earworm and it’s going to be my daily life soundtrack for the foreseeable future. Scroll down for Bored Panda’s interview with Chris!

Check out Chris’s parody music video about life at home during the coronavirus quarantine

Most people who are self-quarantining will get Chris’s jokes about endlessly looking at cat memes, missing our neighbors, constantly FaceTiming with our friends, not showering, and not putting on pants anymore. Well, maybe not the last two.

This isn’t the first time that 37-year-old Chris has made parody music videos about Covid-19. He has two others: My Corona, based on My Sharona by The Knack, as well as Stay Home and Vogue, a spoof of Madonna’s Vogue. We definitely suggest checking them out for some more light corona-humor.

Dad Nails The Feeling Everyone Has During Lockdown, Creates A Hilariously Spot-On Parody Of Adele's "Hello" (From The Inside)

“Hello (from the Inside) was the third parody video I made during the quarantine. I started with My Corona which I made on a whim after having a God-awful grocery shopping experience right when quarantine was first starting. Couldn’t find parking, I was kind of scared, there was no pasta or toilet paper and people were generally acting insane. I posted My Corona and it had 20 million views in around 4 days,” Chris told Bored Panda.

“I’ve never experienced anything like that before and had zero intention for this to happen at all. So I quickly followed it up with Stay Home Vogue by dancing to Madonna’s Vogue in my bathroom. Yeah, most of these are shot in my bathroom because #quarantine. I came to Adele’s Hello because it’s such a melodramatic ballad. Before I became known for singing into toilet paper (yay?!), I was known for singing ballads so I wanted to parody something I could really sing.”

Chris told us about his filming and editing process

Chris told us that he thought it would be hilarious to sing the funny lyrics to such a serious melody and song. “I shoot the videos using my iPhone and a tripod and I have a 3-hour window to get all the shots during my toddler son’s nap time. It’s pretty intense and is sort of a game unto itself. My wife, Laura, has an amazing directorial eye and she gives me notes on my first video edit and then I tweak it for the final version.”

He continued: “I’m using Garage Band and iMovie for editing so it’s all really basic. I’m not researching songs to parody—more like a song will come to mind and a lyric substitution will then pop into my head. I have 5 to 6 ideas floating at any given time and for some reason, one will just stick out to me and I’ll run with it. I’m completely overwhelmed by the response so far.”

He’s already come out with a new video!

Chris revealed to Bored Panda that he and his family are doing well, all things considered. “My wife and I have been diligently following the stay home order in LA and trying to enjoy getting back into the simpler things at home with our son. It’s a ton of work parenting through this but we are lucky. We are sending lots of love to frontline workers who can’t stay home and not wear pants and make stupid music videos during this pandemic.”

“I made a tribute song to them this week called Thank U Frontline using Alanis Morissette’s song Thank U. I loved making that—I asked people online to send me videos of them volunteering and thanking their local heroes. I also recorded my family thanking our essential workers like our garbage man and mail woman to create a montage video. I really love it and am pleased to take a moment to be a bit more serious and heartfelt,” the singer went into detail about his latest video. “These videos are keeping me insanely busy. I’m working on them for about 24 hours apiece and staying up all night editing while my son sleeps. Otherwise, my wife and I are watching Tiger King like the rest of the world and loving the hell out of that hot mess.”

“Just go with your gut”

The singer also had some advice for all of you Pandas out there who are itching to create parody music videos yourselves! “I guess just go with your gut? I’m getting tons of messages with song suggestions from people. I do appreciate everyone’s amazingly positive reactions to my videos. I’ve been making music for 20 years and I’ve never had support like this before. I guess I should have sung into toilet paper sooner.”

People absolutely loved the singer’s parody video of Hello

Dad Nails The Feeling Everyone Has During Lockdown, Creates A Hilariously Spot-On Parody Of Adele's "Hello" (From The Inside)

Chris is a professional singer-songwriter

If you’re not familiar with who Chris is and you’re wondering how he got his excellent voice, then you should know that he’s a professional singer-songwriter and recording artist.

He won fourth place in NBC’s second season of the singing competition The Voice in 2012. Later on, he came in first on Team Christina Aguilera, representing the star in the final round. He also played the titular character in The Phantom of the Opera National Tour in 2015 and 2016.

Chris has two albums, Roads, which he released in 2012, and Constellation, released in 2016.

Here are the lyrics for Chris’s song so you can sing along!

Hello
It’s me
I’m in California dreaming about going out to eat
Just a burger
With cheese
Or a shaken margarita, baby back ribs from Chili’s

Hello-o-o
Can you hear me?
I am shouting out to neighbors who I used to like to see
When we were outside
And free

Is there something else to watch
Besides the news and Finding Dory
There’s social distance between us
And I’m freaking out

Hello from the inside
It’s just me and myself and I
And a Stay Home order that’s breaking my heart
But it’s clearly what we should have done from the start

Hello from Corona life
I’ve FaceTime called a 1,000 times
To show you I’m sitting right here on the couch
What’s the point of putting on pants anyhow, anymore?

Hello
How are you?
Do your fingers hurt from scrolling through
All the cat memes on your iPhone?
I hope that you’re well
Did you ever make it out of that town
Before they closed the Costco?
It’s no secret that the both of us
Haven’t showered yet

Hello to Corona life (Corona life)
They’re saying stay home till July? (til July)
Jesus Christ, Almighty
Can you please send me strength?
I’m so sick and tired
Of my own Goddamned face

Hello from self quarantine (quarantine)
I’m begging Amazon to please (Amazon to please)
After sending more soap, can you please figure out
How to send a box of my friends to my house?

I’m so bored
(Help! Help! Help! Help!)
Ooh, I’m so bored
(Help! Help! Help! Help!)
Ooh, I’m so bored
Ooh…
I’m so bored! (Help! Help!)

Hello from the inside
It’s just me and myself and I (Myself and I)
And a Stay Home order that’s breaking my heart
But it’s clearly what we should have done from the start

Hello from Corona life (Corona life)
I’ve FaceTime called a 1,000 times
To show you I’m sitting right here on the couch
What’s the point of putting on pants anyhow, anymore?

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Storytelling, journalism, and art are a core part of who I am. I've been writing and drawing ever since I could walk—there is nothing else I'd rather do. My formal education, however, is focused on politics, philosophy, and economics because I've always been curious about the gap between the ideal and the real. At work, I'm a Senior Writer and I cover a broad range of topics that I'm passionate about: from psychology and changes in work culture to healthy living, relationships, and design. In my spare time, I'm an avid hiker and reader, enjoy writing short stories, and love to doodle. I thrive when I'm outdoors, going on small adventures in nature. However, you can also find me enjoying a big mug of coffee with a good book (or ten) and entertaining friends with fantasy tabletop games and sci-fi movies.

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