Aimee Mann is lovesick after David Wain cures the Common Cold

It’s been a tough winter. Chances are you have a cold, had a cold, or are about to be catch a cold. But enough about you. What about the Common Cold? You’ve been through a lot together, and while everyone says they would welcome a cure, very few seem to appreciate what that “break-up” might really mean.

Aimee Mann has given it a lot of thought. In the new video for “I’m Cured,” a bittersweet song from the upcoming comedy album 2776: A Millennium of American Asskickery, the singer gives voice to the bug’s inner blues after David Wain’s scientist finally finds a cure for the Common Cold. “Aimee has the power to make you feel so deeply for the characters in her songs,” says Stephen Levinson, who wrote the song with his brother Joel and former Daily Show writer Rob Kutner. “When we wrote this song for her, we thought, ‘How can we use that ability for evil?'”

“Right off the bat, I did think it was a funny idea,” says Mann. “But mostly, I have to like the song and it actually kind of sounds not different from a song I’d actually write. I liked its melody, and it sort of made you feel bad for the poor cold who has been cured and has no place in the world. When he goes, ‘Trap me in a HAZMAT vial in the basement of the CDC,’ the phrasing of that line I just thought was so funny. I was like, ‘Okay, I’m in.'”

Wain, the director of such comedies as Wanderlust and Wet Hot American Summer, was equally eager to be involved, especially since Mann was his co-star. “I was so happy because I’ve always been such a serious, huge fan,” he says. “For me, she really is a rock star. I just was so interested to meet her and talk to her and hear about her life. It was awesome. She was funny and super cool.”

Cool enough not to blanch when she showed up and was handed fuzzy-spore head gear and blue unitard. “The tone of this whole project was, ‘Hey would you be interested in doing this video for charity?’ Sure. ‘Oh, by the other way, you’re going to be dressed as a germ, with like a fuzzy germ headdress and blue leotard.’ I did nix the blue face makeup. They wanted to paint my face blue too.”

“She was pretty sexy in that, I have to say,” says Wain.

The 2776 album, which will be released on July 4, is raising money for the OneKid OneWorld organization. “I’m Cured,” directed by Alan Tanner, can be viewed as an exclusive below before it launches on MyDamnChannel Tuesday morning.