We all remember March 2020 as a global hostage situation when Covid hijacked our lives, leaving the world at a standstill.
Some people became teachers to their children, others leaned heavily on alcohol or food, while others got a divorce, became a pet parent, a hoarder of toilet paper, or a social media singing sensation.
Tired of pandemic lockdowns, Kentucky’s Garnetta Rickett leaned on her humor and musical talents, making a dark time a bit brighter for social media fans with her brilliant parodies of popular songs.
Keep reading to hear more about Rickett’s parodies!
Only days after mandatory quarantine started in March 2020, Garnetta Rickett, of Vanceburg, Kentucky, started feeling the pains of social isolation.
The woman, who according to social media is a professional karaoke party planner, was caring for her 77-year-old mom, who was in hospice at the time.
Speaking with the syndicated radio show Bob and Sheri, Rickett explained that she’s been training for quarantine by watching her mom, who needs constant care. “I’ve been quarantined here before quarantine was cool. I could give lessons on being quarantined. What else do I have to do other than take care of momma, which is priority, and write parodies?” said Rickett, whose mother died May 11, 2020.
On March 24, the musical woman had the idea to start sharing her troubles on social media by creating parodies to popular songs.
The first, was “All By Myself,” originally performed by Eric Carmen in 1975.
Rickett appears on camera with a maxi pad as a mask across her mouth, written on it is “quarantine.”
She says, “Well, ladies and gentlemen, it finally happened. I got bored. And this little makeshift mask is exactly what you think it is. Gotta find the humor where we can. Stay safe.”
Rickett then starts singing the popular song, also recorded by Celine Dion, switching up the words.
“All by myself, I’m quarantined all by myself. What a bore…Hard to be sure if there’s even a cure but we all must endure.”
Later that day she shared her version of “Hey Jude,” by the Beatles.
“Covid you’re so bad. Go away so we’ll get better. Remember our kids should be in school, and parents can’t always afford a sitter….Covid folks need to work, they have bills they need to pay. The minute you came into our lives, things weren’t right. Please go away.”
According to her Facebook, it was after that song that Rickett made her posts available to the public. One friend urged, “That was awesome Love you, girl! Stay safe & well! *please make it public…too fun not to share.”
On May 30, Rickett shared a fan favorite and parodied Dolly Parton’s hit song “Jolene.”
The lyrics are nothing like the original, that’s based on a true story where a beautiful red-headed woman who worked at the bank flirted with Parton’s husband Carl Dean.
“Well, that didn’t go over too big with me. I fought that red-headed woman like a wild cat,” Parton explained to an audience. “She jerked my wig off and almost beat me to death with it. But I kept my husband. I got that sucker home and I beat the tar out of him.”
In the video that has more than 320,000 views, Rickett, is seen wearing a bathrobe with her hair in a wild a mess. Twisting the words, she sings: “Jolene, I’m begging of you, please come take my man…please come get him fast as you can.”
Rickett continues with her heavy southern drawl: “He’s big and strong, like a bear, he even has all his hair, but I cannot stand him, Jolene. All he does is sleep and eat, I’m tired of his smelly feet, I’ve really had enough of him, Jolene.”
Then, she takes a sip of wine and belts out, “This quarantine is killing me and I just can’t hardly see spending another minute with him, Jolene…I had to have this talk with you, my happiness depends on you and whatever you decide to do, Jolene…”
In the interview with the radio show, Sheri suggested that being in lockdown with a partner is nothing like a Hallmark movie, Rickett agreed and said it was more like the horror film, Misery.
The woman, who wasn’t married during lockdowns, added that it was her friend’s experiences that influenced her parodies.
“I had a lot of friends complaining about husbands and boyfriends being underfoot,” said the Dolly Parton fan, adding that her social media world exploded with new friends around the world. “The word fans is just weird to me. I’m like the cool kid in school of a sudden.”
Unfortunately, Rickett’s parodies are less frequent now, the last shared at Christmas 2020.
But, to this day, fans are viewing, sharing, and praising Rickett’s older posts.
In an older comment, one netizen shared, “We are in a 21-day lockdown with a possibility of an extension. Thanks for making me laugh,” while a second jumped in with, “Funny as heck!!Do you think Jolene is into polyamorous relationships? She can come and take mine too!”
Another cyber fan writes, “I’ve sent to all my happily/not so happily still ‘married during Covid’ sisters…They are in agreement. Come get ‘em Jolene.”
Meanwhile, a fan from South Africa was also watching. “Watching from Zimbabwe. This is hilarious. We need this humor in these trying times.”
Though it was quite recent, Covid lockdowns seem so far gone. What do you remember most about those trying times? What did you do to keep busy?
Please share this story and show Garnetta Rickett some love for making people laugh in a time when nothing seemed fun!
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