NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins Sings a Coronavirus Parody of ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’

The National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins is retiring, but as part of his goodbye he played a coronavirus-themed parody of the song “Somewhere over the Rainbow” on Tuesday.

Collins debuted his performance in a Health and Human Services video featuring his final remarks to the American people before his retirement.

After he spoke, he pulled out a guitar and played.

“This is really a song for you, for all of us who have been going through this pandemic and trying to imagine how’s it going to feel when we’re finally past that,” he said as he began.

Here are the lyrics:

Somewhere past the pandemic when we’re free
There’s a life I remember full of activity
Somewhere past the pandemic masks will come off
No more need for a nose swab every time we cough

As we are gathered here today
Covid’s toll has hit and sent us reeling
Our partners like the ones right here
Will help to make the pathway clear
To find the true healing

Somewhere past the pandemic life will resume.
We’ll all complain about the traffic, forgetting how we hated Zoom.
Somewhere past the pandemic we’ll hug our friends
And thank the people in science that brought pandemic’s end

My dozen years are almost through
But its been great to work with you
Let’s end Covid now!

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden praised Collins during a visit to the National Institutes of Health, thanking him for his service.
“Dr. Collins is an incredible resource for our nation,” he said. “And I’m grateful — and I mean this sincerely — I’m grateful for everything he’s done in this pandemic.”

Biden said he would continue to ask Collins for more advice as the pandemic continues.

“The bad news for you is you ain’t getting rid of me, man,” he said. “I’m going to keep calling you all the time because there’s a lot of other things we can do — you can do and help me to get done. You just tell me — point me in the direction and I’ll follow.”