591: "Outbreakin' 2: Electric Pile-o-Goo" | Outbreak (1995)

This week we’re diving into Outbreak (1995), the viral thriller that turned sneezing into a death sentence. Dustin Hoffman’s a scrappy Army virologist, Rene Russo’s his ex with better instincts, and Morgan Freeman’s somewhere between helpful and horrifying. From monkey smugglers to military cover-ups, we’re breaking quarantine to figure out how this ‘90s pandemic panic still infects our brains today.

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Want the lyrics to our Outbreak song?

[Verse 1]  At first, we felt a chill, just a cough, a little sweat  Then came the news from overseas—it ain’t over yet  From the jungle to the airwaves, it flew fast and flew unseen  One scratch from Betsy, now this town’s a quarantine

[Verse 2]  We wore our masks, we sealed our suits  Still the sirens howled, the threat was absolute  They said “Control the panic,” but we knew it wasn’t true  When your generals are hiding truths, what’s a virologist to do?

[Chorus]  We won’t die, not today  Though McClintock’s bombs are coming, we still found another way  We tracked that monkey through the trees, we hit the skies, we found a cure  Now this town will stand, and science will endure

[Verse 3]  Jimbo touched that monkey, which grayed out his anatomy   You can call him McDreamy, but his guts turned creamy   Made out with his girlfriend and his luck ran dry First on the slab, and the first to die 

[Bridge]  And Robby held on strong, though her hands began to shake  Her life on the line, with every move she’d make  But with serum in the needle and a second left to spare  She took the cure and breathed again, fresh hope in the air

[Chorus]  We won’t die, no, not this time  Though fear spread fast and high command tried to cross the line  They said “nuke it from orbit,” we said “That’s insane!”  So we flew between the bombs and saved the town from flame

Cedar Creek still breathes…  And we—we won’t die