'Some Hobby That I Used To Know' is a family parody on lockdown hobbies, and the video is quite worth the listen.

During the pandemic, did you turn to puzzles or make promises to exercise more? Did you attempt to learn to play a new instrument or speak a different language? Many people turned to new hobbies to turn lemons into lemonade and take advantage of newfound time.

In our local, state, and national communities, even globally, people are now starting to celebrate the end of lockdowns and mask restrictions. The Marsh family are among those celebrating. They decided to commemorate their quarantine experience a bit unconventionally, that is to say through song and a funny video.

The family wrote in their video description, “After a great half term of catching up with friends and family, including some rare visits (and being stuck in traffic - remember that?), we figured we would sing in memoriam about all the good intentions, pastimes, and hobbies that for a while revolutionised our lives during lockdown.”

“But most of which have now fallen into disregard or disrepair. Kudos to all those people who have managed to carry things on that are making their lives more manageable or fulfilling - who can enjoy (and deserve) feeling superior when they watch this.”

The family of six, two parents and four children, practiced, rehearsed, and eventually produced and filmed their own parody song. Parodying the original “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye, the Marsh Family sang about something we can relate to today.

We rely on hobbies to distract us from the busyness of work, and enjoy leisure time. During quarantine, hobbies meant the difference between being bored or being active, being sad or happy, gaining weight or staying in shape. Adults and children alike needed to occupy their time especially when schools were moved online and when jobs were lost or furloughed

The Marshes understood this all too well. Hobbies helped them pass the time too. In the lyrics they mention one hobby of reading about subjects like ornithology. That’s the study of birds, though they then remark the information doesn’t stick in their minds forever. We’ve all likely spent some time researching random useless ideas just to help keep our minds active. Why did we do this? The Marshes know, as one of the children sang, “You can get addicted to a certain type of madness.”

We were all at risk of going mad, but we decided to split our type between our own personal interests. In the song, the family references gardening, home renovation, and baking. Plenty of people posted on social media about their various endeavors including each of those. Some people spent time learning languages, and a few working out.

The overall meaning of the song brings attention to how our lives changed, including our old behaviors and old hobbies, especially those that involved others. Some of us developed very good hobbies, but did those hobbies stick? There were hobbies that we used to know, but with lockdown ending have stopped doing. We should seek to maintain good habits, whether before or post-pandemic.

As Christians, this also means gathering together again in community and finding ways to serve. No more being confined to our own four walls. We can move beyond what we used to know and into knowing something new, something better.