‘Oom poppa mow mow!’ Modesto teacher reworks country classic into ‘Coronavirus’ parody
“I’m gonna jump and holler. My Internet’s worth every dollar. I’m gonna search up every app I can.”
So goes a bit of Tuolumne Elementary School sixth-grade teacher Ron Boren’s “Coronavirus,” a parody song and video on YouTube about remote teaching, social distancing and not going stir crazy during the COVID-19 shelter-at-home order.
“Coronavirus” is set to the tune of “Elvira,” the 1966 Dallas Frazier song that became a huge hit when the Oak Ridge Boys recorded it in 1981. In his version, Boren impressively performs harmonies with himself as he sings lines like “I’ve got a funny feeling up and down my spine. I’ve got this pandemic on my mind.”
The 20-year veteran of writing and performing children’s music sings two-part harmony on his “Coronavirus” number, three-part on the chorus and four-part when you add the famous bass vocal “oom poppa mow mow” from “Elvira.”
He knew he had to that last bit into his song, he said, though it was challenging to record the separate harmony pieces. “Normally, I have the bells and whistles of a studio. Listening to only my own voice was tricky,” Boren said.
Thankfully, he had the help of former student Christopher Correia, who is one of Boren’s interns at Teachers College San Joaquin and also is a sixth-grade teacher at Brock Elliott Elementary School in Manteca.
Correia is tech-savvy, Boren said, and had the idea to go into Zoom with his former teacher to record video segments. A brief teacher-to-teacher conversation between them, about coping with the coronavirus, kicks off the video. Correia pops up later in the video, as do some of Boren’s sixth-graders and students in a masters class he teaches at Stanislaus State University.
The grade-schoolers, and likely most of the college students, won’t know the source song for “Coronavirus,” Boren realizes. “I’m kind of old school, and I like the Oak Ridge Boys,” he said. “My generation gets it,” he said of how well the name Elvira adapts to “virus.” “But the younger kids are like, ‘What’s this song?’”
The video, which took a couple of weeks to produce, shows Boren teaching remotely, finding ways to pass the time and protecting his “Boren Bunch.” He’s sheltering in place with his wife and four daughters, two college age and two in junior high.
At one point, Boren strings caution tape across his front porch. At another, he stands behind a family car with a hand-held stop sign to prevent the unseen driver who’s backing up — must be one of those daughters! — from leaving the safety of home.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Boren’s video had more than 650 views. One of the watchers was his Tuolumne principal, Tony Lomeli. “Mr. Boren has always been innovative in engaging and connecting with students in and out of the classroom,” he told The Bee via email. “This is another great example of his ability to have fun but find ways to connect with students and the Modesto community, especially during this time of distance learning.”
Other viewers certainly include students and colleagues. Boren hopes the parody is being taken in the spirit with which it was intended. “I didn’t want to belittle how big this thing is, I just wanted to give teachers some fun,” he said. “I’m trying to be lighthearted with something serious.”
The video closes on a subdued note as Boren looks into the camera and says of the pandemic and the lockdown, “I’m over it.” A point-of-view shot then has him approaching and opening his classroom door (he had to pack up student belongings) before it fades to black and the message “#wewillbeback” is shown.
Boren said it’s his way of telling his fellow teachers and their students, “Hang in there ... we’re going to get through this.”
