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St JAmes Hospital in London, the inspiration behind "St. James Infirmary Blues"

A Playlist of Disease

The internet does not offer sick days. That said, sometimes we need to take them anyway.

As I write this, I am sitting at home, holed up with an upper respiratory infection, finding relief in the new Cobalt album and some prescription cough syrup.

Tomorrow will be a big feature, and rather than write a longform article that would detract from it, or district my mind by editing someone else’s article, I thought this would be a good opportunity for a playlist.

Illness sucks, maybe that’s why there aren’t that many metal songs about being sick. Still, disease encompasses a whole host of metallic themes: mortality, fear, slow disintegration and unnumbered hosts of (microscopic) predators laying waste to a hallowed fortress… in this case, yours truly’s chest cavity.

We return to full power in 24 hours. In the meantime, make yourself a hot toddy, heat up a bowl of chicken noodle soup (or vegan pho, whatever) and tuck into a quilted blanket with the following odes to sickness and death. Feel free to post your own suggestions in the comment thread.

Take your vitamin c, and don’t ever start smoking.

—Joseph Schafer
—Twitter—@JosephPSchafer
—Instagram—@timesnewromancatholic