IT'S DEFINITELY a matter of 'if you don't laugh, you'd cry', but that doesn't make it any less funny.
For a while, as naive and hopelessly optimistic as it was, we all seemed to be under the impression that the disaster that was 2020 would all be over as soon as the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve.
Of course, just 14 days into the New Year and we know that's not quite what happened.
A Donegal man who has been entertaining audiences with online gigs since lockdowns first came into effect in March has left people in stitches with his new song-- which encapsulates what everyone is thinking right now.
Rory Gallagher, who performs under the name Rory and the Island, perfectly captured the public's mood by penning the simple lyric: '2021, you're just about as s***e as 2020'.
'If you're on the frontline, remember you're a legend and we love ya/
'If you still think it's a hoax, shut up you feckin prick and put your mask on!'
"I wouldn't even call it a song, it was a wee bit of craic to plug my Saturday night Facebook gig," Rory laughed when contacted by The Irish Post.
"I'm shocked at the reaction to it," he said, adding "I'll have to write more lyrics that don't rhyme or fit in future!"
Sure, it might not all rhyme, but it does the job, with one person, Adelle Howatson, writing "Brilliant! Put a much-needed smile on my face!
"Very catchy too! Been going around singing it since yesterday!"
Rory owned a bar in Lanzarote for a number of years, where he would perform for tourists each night with an array of cover songs and originals (Including the incredibly catchy Jimmy's Winning Matches, which you may have heard when it went viral a few years ago).
But last year, he and his wife Cara, along their two children, moved to Edinburgh to open a new bar, The Wildcat, where Rory was set to perform to a whole new audience.
Of course, things got in the way.
"We upped and moved and pumped in a load of money into it," Rory told The Irish Post. "And we were all set to open on March 20th 2020... we never did get to open it. It was brutal."
So instead he's been entertaining people around the world with online gigs every Saturday night, which can easily go on into the early hours of the morning , watched by an audience of hundreds of tipsy quarantiners dancing the night away.
Happy New Year! - Thank you all for your amazing support in 2020 from the Gallaghers ! ❤👊🤯
If you want to buy a shot ...Posted by Rory and the island on Thursday, 31 December 2020
Admitting he was "anxious at first" at the idea of doing online gigs, and even training to be an Amazon delivery driver in case things didn't work out, Rory said "Not only was I blown away by the response to the first gig, I was blown away with how I felt after it".
"I didn't realise how down I was until I felt the post-gig high again, and I said to myself 'I will need this little buzz to get through the next few months'.
"So I've played every weekend since! I think I'm on week 43 now and I seem to have a regular base of 500 or so watching live, and then maybe 20k viewers watching the recording over the following days.
"It's mindblowing," he said. "They saved me."
You can watch Rory and the Island live on Facebook at 9.30pm this Saturday (for the 43rd Saturday in a row!) by following his page here.
See More: 2020, 2021, Online Gig, Rory And The Island
