Singing bonds people together with commonality and unified purpose. Singing is good for the lungs and great for the soul, and singing Christmas carols is especially gratifying with its seasonal bliss and service to the greater good. Carols are rich in story, meaningful in content, and melodically satisfying. Carols have withstood the artistic test of time and often combine the greatest elements of folk song and classical development. In the case of The First Noel, for example, the text and music blend together in a beautiful marriage destined for musical eternity.
But the days of carol singing are slipping away as society and culture shifts into a different mindset and practice. As in most societal transformations, there is probably no one particular reason for this change but is probably the result of several things. One thing is obvious, people today, in general, do not sing as much as they once did. Oh, there are pockets of singers around and there are still church choirs and schools continue to have thriving choral programs, but rarely is there an outburst of collective singing when people are together.
Why? What has caused this situation? I postulate that the amateur, which includes most of us, feels threatened by the constant “professional” musical performances heard on the radio, in stores, in concerts, and on the television. There is a feeling that there is no place for the average or the untrained or the unrecorded. Or perhaps it is the fear of not knowing the words or public embarrassment in some way. Music is such a vital part of our lives but more in a passive sense than an active one. We are moving toward our musical needs being met by the professional without the public participation found in earlier times. Maybe it is fear but maybe it is apathy.
Or even worse, maybe it is that we no longer value singing as having any meaning. But I do not subscribe to this view since I regularly see people singing in the car to the radio, and I watch students moving and singing to live music every chance they get. So as I write this and pontificate, I am beginning to think that Christmas carols as a genre have lost their appeal. We have been so inundated with carols of every type that it is no longer special to sing the very things we hear all the time.
I am anxious for your opinion, so please comment on this blog. Agree or disagree with me. Perhaps my thesis is wrong. I look for an answer to the two questions: Is the art of Christmas caroling disappearing from our society? If so, why?
2 comments:
I went alone to an assisted living to sing and to give out bags of goodies. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love to sing and do it often. However, when I sang to the elderly as I gave out the goody bags, I realized that there was a missing ingredient - collective caroling, which is so much richer and sweeter than the lone singer, and that includes all who think they sing poorly during caroling. Let's revive collective caroling, and even the hot chocolate which can accompany such activity.
You Tuckers... you all reply with the name "jt" and I never know who it is.
I do believe that caroling is diminishing.
I believe one factor involved is that "traditional" values are dissapearing and being replaced with individual values and needs. Sense of community and family is becoming less important. People are becoming so busy with their daily scheduals that spending time as a family is being "weeded out" to make time for "more important things". Even dinner time has been severely compromised and the rate of fast food eating and T.V. dinners are sky rocketing.
I think apathy also plays a big role in this loss. It is rare today to see people going out of their way to benefit someone else they haven't even met. When you do see it, it is usually in the form of a political move.
Singing in general has been changed too. Most people would not consider christmas carols popular music anymore, unless it has been remixed into a version not singable door to door by a popular musician for a few more bucks (I don't need to get started on that rant though.) People sing less. For those who still sing, the majority of them would not choose carols as their first choice. Most who don't sing are too intimidated to perform in front of anyone.
I say this all the time, but I think in modern media, the individual is stressed far beyond the collective causing most people to develop a narcissitic view of life. Almost any time it seems that someone or something is trying to benefit the collective society, motives are usually selfish and impure.
The decline of caroling I think is a symbol of somthing much bigger going on. Soon most people will not even need to leave their houses to work, shop for groceries, and live their daily lives. Our society is driving us to become selfish people by providing easily obtainable instant gratification at every step one takes. Caroling involves self sacrifice and a strong care for the enjoyment for others, which less and less people are willing to do.
My view may seem a pretty bleak, but I state it from a different perspective than older generations. I am looking at many things today from the center of modern youth culture, and I am impressed upon every day by things that should be "cool", which in my mind are mostly a waste. Even watching how it has shaped me makes me wish sometimes that I would have grown up at a different time where I didn't have these internal struggles of fighting the mass amount of garbage that gets pumped into my system every day. It's also a kick I have been on lately, but nonetheless that is my view.
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