Hong Kong woman sings coronavirus parody of Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn’

A Hong Kong singer has struck a humorous chord during the coronavirus outbreak with a parody of Natalie Imbruglia’s number “Torn,” in which she sings about using hand sanitizer and hibernating.

Kathy Mak opens her version by singing: “Back during SARS, I was just a child/Didn’t seem to know, didn’t seem to care about the virus running wild/ But now I’m freaking out all right/I sterilize, I sanitize/My hands are always frickin’ dry.”

The Australian-British artist sang: “I’m all out of faith/This is how I feel, I’m cold and I am shamed/ Lying naked on the floor.”

In her take, Mak sings: “How do I use the lift/How do I get to the door/I hold on to my bags/’Cause all the germs fall to the floor,” according to the South China Morning Post.

“We need a little faith/ We’ll get through this Hong Kong,” Mak sang during a recent fundraising event at the Social Room for Australian bush fire relief efforts — applying hand sanitizer to applause from the crowd.

Mak, who is also an actress and dancer, told the news outlet she wasn’t surprised her cover version of Imbruglia’s song had appealed to people during the stressful times.

“I had a feeling it would go viral, to be honest – I made an effort to ensure I’d get a good video, so it would have a better chance of getting likes and shares,” she said.

Mak said she initially wanted to a more positive song to cover, but then opted for “Torn” instead.

“It’s It’s funny when you take an emotional song but make the emotion about something ridiculous like shopping in a supermarket,” she told the South China Morning Post.

When asked how she has been affected personally by the global health threat, Mak responded: “I usually work from home anyway, so the virus hasn’t changed my life much. But emotionally it’s been quite a downer and it’s hard to wake up to such sad news every day.

“I thought that if I’m feeling this way, many other people would be too, so I thought a song would be a fun way of looking at the situation,” she added. “In a way it’s been kind of a coping mechanism.“

Mak said the success of her parody has led to offers to perform her first comedy show.

“I’m just glad the video made people laugh and I hope to create more funny content – people really need some cheering up at the moment,” she told the news outlet.