The uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic continue to inspire Hawaii’s songwriters and recording artists. Here are two more musical messages of support and hope.

“It’s Kinda Weird”

Freddyp

(Fvpmusic Productions)

Freddy Von Paraz aka Freddyp has an impressive resume. A member of the Krush during the group’s heyday as a Waikiki show band, he left the Krush to play original rock with a group named Triad and then co-founded Bad Boys Club (aka BBC). BBC changed its name to the New Generation (TNG) and became one of the few local pop groups to be signed and recorded by a national record label.

Von Paraz partnered with kumu hula Kawaikapuokalani Hewett later in the 1990s to record “Native Grooves,” a cross-cultural pairing of Hawaiian chant and electronic music that was maybe 2o years ahead of its time. He then returned to Waikiki as a member of the Society of Seven—Las Vegas at the Outrigger. His latest project is this download-only single. Inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic, it displays his capabilities as a recording artist, songwriter, musician and record producer.

A sparse and poignant instrumental arrangement supports a lyric message that acknowledges the human cost and spiritual toll of COVID-19 but closes with an inspirational statement of faith and hope.

“It’s Kinda Weird” is available for free for the duration of the pandemic at facebook.com/freddyp808.

Watch the video at facebook.com/fvpmusic or on YouTube at 808ne.ws/freddyp.

“Stand by You Together”

Frank De Lima

(Pocholinga Productions)

“Stand by Me,” co-written and first recorded in 1961 by Ben E. King, is repurposed as the platform for Frank De Lima’s second COVID-19 song parody as he speaks for the entire state in voicing his support for the first responders and health care professionals who put their lives at risk to aid victims of the pandemic. “Warriors, remember, we stand by you.”

The song is the latest entry in an impressive list of topical De Lima song parodies that goes back more than two decades. A Gilbert & Sullivan operetta provided the melody when De Lima and his go-to lyricist, Patrick Downes, commented on the financial benefits of being a scandal-era Bishop Estate trustee. “Gilligan’s Island” became a song about the opposition to interisland ferry service, and Johnny Cash’s longtime musical signature “Folsom Prison Blues” morphed into “Da Rail Blues” as De Lima addressed the increasingly bitter controversy surrounding what was then a $5.27 billion rail project. De Lima addressed the “he said/she said” aspect of impeachment in January.

“Stand by You Together” is ­available as a free download at ­frankdelima.com, but a payment of any amount supports his nonprofit Frank De Lima Student Enrichment Program. So consider offering at least the traditional 99-cent download rate.