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Want to Get Beyond ‘Happy Birthday’? Teen Creates Website That Will Make Any Song a Wash Your Hands Jingle

2 minute read
Wash your hands
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By Melissa Locker

As the coronavirus continues its spread around the globe, one thing public health experts seem to agree on is this: Frequently washing your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds helps fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus. To help count down the seconds, in the English-speaking world, experts suggest singing the song “Happy Birthday” twice while you wash because the song clocks in around 20 seconds.

While the song works for the intended purpose, in the midst of an outbreak that the World Health Organization has called a pandemic and the very frequent hand washing that comes with it, some people may be eager to try another song—any other song—to sing while dutifully scrubbing away. Now, a creative teen in England has come up with a website that will turn your favorite song into a custom hand-washing infographic.

To use the website, Wash Your Lyrics, simply enter the title of a favorite song and artist (say, The Isley Brothers’ “Contagious”) and the site automatically generates a poster that pairs the lyrics to a 13-step hand washing routine. Reportedly Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” is the most popular choice so far.

The site, which is the creation of 17-year old William Gibson, has been a huge hit, after he tweeted out the site:

According to the BBC, “about 175,000 posters were generated on his website in its first three days.” Twitter is now filled with newly-devout hand washers sharing their new favorite hand-washing jingles featuring the music of bands like BTS, Daft Punk, Rick Astley (it is the internet, after all), and other songs:

Even Miley Cyrus and Rage Against the Machine got in on the fun, tweeting out their own lyrics:

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