The Brief: A new Coronavirus-related handwashing PSA is circulating in the form of a meme combining a handwashing infographic with song lyrics called Wash your Lyrics Memes.

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DEEP DIVE

Wash Your Lyrics memes combine reminders to thoroughly wash one’s hands with song lyrics. As Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread globally, public health officials are emphasizing the importance of handwashing, avoiding touching one’s face, avoiding physical contact and other safety measures. As these PSA’s spread, so do related memes. Just as don’t touch your face memes and the Wuhan Shake combine important information with fun memes, Wash Your Lyrics image macros remind people to wash their hands and provide some relief from Coronavirus-related anxiety.

In early March 2020, a 17-year-old named William Gibson created a website that generates handwashing song lyric memes called washyourlyrics.com. This site combines song lyrics from Genius.com with images from an infographic created by the NHS based on the WHO’s Guidelines on Hand Washing in Healthcare. The site allows visitors to type the name and artist of a song and it then generates an infographic meme with lyrics from that song.

#WashYourLyrics

As William Gibson’s meme generator allows anyone to create their own version of these memes, they’ve been going viral online with creative and bizarre song choices.

Wash Your Lyrics MemesWash Your Lyrics Memes

Is this the new Say So dance?

Wash Your Lyrics memes have even started making the rounds as IRL PSA’s.

Although not technically a song, Lady Macbeth’s “out damned spot” monologue is the *chefs kiss* perfect accompaniment to this infographic.