Very nice. But to be distinguished the likes of one chap who pestered myself and other travellers on the tube the other day, who stomped his feet and rapped obnoxiously, then had the gall to ask for money. By and large, at least in my experience, musicians 'entertaining' commuters provide more torment than uplift.
What are sometimes uplifting are the pianos left on train stations for anyone to play. They make for some real spontaneous joy.
I think what I like about this clip most of all is that lyric sheets are handed out, so people join in. It seems unremarkable to say this, but it's becoming remarkable as genuine communal singing dies out.
Oh yes, this was done properly as a communal sing. As you say, the handing out of lyric sheets got people to join in instead of alienating them. We could find dozens of horrible examples such as you cite: indifferently played music with a rude demand for compensation. Here, instead, there was an innocuous request to join in. I think that little opening speech about gratitude set the proper tone. Anyway, good on the Aussies! Somehow I can't see this happening in Canada or, perhaps, the UK?
Yes, it would be terribly un-English to make that soppily earnest speech at the beginning. I think England (and possibly Canada, though I don't know the country well enough) is too reserved for all that.
I'm gonna do this at work soon, so finally I won't be the only one to sing on the job. Even this morning, to their Led Zeppelin and Allman Bros. and similar 1970s radio songs, I sang rather full-throated to the silence but I think not hostile company of the other electricians and roofers. I'll have to think carefully about the people first, since they range in age from 10 to 25 years younger than me, and don't know each other's music. I wonder what everybody knows and likes?
Canadians are not so reserved, but we are easily embarrassed! Will, I think the repertoire is crucial. Somewhere Over the Rainbow is a pretty good choice. Who doesn't know that one?
I work at a very small office. The boss does Contemporary R&B, the office manager, Christian 'praise music', one co-worker, rap, I have heard her say, or whatever Tek9 is, the one fellow, I have no idea, and then there's me. I would be hard pressed to come up with a song (other than, perhaps, the National Anthem or 'Amazing Grace') that we all know well enough to sing-- it is an amusing thought experiment, though. Some Christmas songs, probably.
Christine, I think it's about 50/50 whether I would want to join in or just beat the guy up and smash his beat box! I hate pre-recorded music blasted at me in public places. A completely acoustic low-key singalong is a different story.
Yes, Marc, these are the wages of our fragmented culture. It used to be, I suspect, that the schools would acquaint most students with a repertoire of standard songs: Sloop John B, Puff the Magic Dragon, Lemon Tree, House of the Rising Sun, Hey Jude, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, songs from the Sound of Music, that kind of thing. This would be most helpful to those students who had little or no music in their home environment. But now, instead of these common songs, we have mass media, social media and an enormous amount of culture, very little of which is common to everyone.
Christine, I think I had never heard any Boney M. While I doubt I'd have been dancing, that would have been a pleasant enough addition to the morning commute.
(I must add, however, in my role as social justice watchdog, that there are several levels of cultural appropriation going on in that song: I suspect that this is simply not acceptable.)
Well I never should have posted that clip. Boney M had a knack for creating songs that stick in your head like glue. I found the song bouncing around in my head at 2 in the morning and suddenly remembered reading Back from the Void, written by a climber who very nearly died alone in the snow after a fall. He was treated to an incessant concert of Boney M's Brown Girl. Check out the short clip from the movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO_uK33aQY8. I must have a sick sense of humor because it made me laugh.
There was a time, many years ago, when I had perfected the box step, ahem.
Christine, that was great. Thank you! It has gotten me to thinking, what would my brain use to motivate me out of a life-threatening situation like that? Let hope I never have to find out! but I suspect it would be something from the 70s.
Very nice. But to be distinguished the likes of one chap who pestered myself and other travellers on the tube the other day, who stomped his feet and rapped obnoxiously, then had the gall to ask for money. By and large, at least in my experience, musicians 'entertaining' commuters provide more torment than uplift.
ReplyDeleteWhat are sometimes uplifting are the pianos left on train stations for anyone to play. They make for some real spontaneous joy.
I think what I like about this clip most of all is that lyric sheets are handed out, so people join in. It seems unremarkable to say this, but it's becoming remarkable as genuine communal singing dies out.
Oh yes, this was done properly as a communal sing. As you say, the handing out of lyric sheets got people to join in instead of alienating them. We could find dozens of horrible examples such as you cite: indifferently played music with a rude demand for compensation. Here, instead, there was an innocuous request to join in. I think that little opening speech about gratitude set the proper tone. Anyway, good on the Aussies! Somehow I can't see this happening in Canada or, perhaps, the UK?
ReplyDeleteYes, it would be terribly un-English to make that soppily earnest speech at the beginning. I think England (and possibly Canada, though I don't know the country well enough) is too reserved for all that.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna do this at work soon, so finally I won't be the only one to sing on the job. Even this morning, to their Led Zeppelin and Allman Bros. and similar 1970s radio songs, I sang rather full-throated to the silence but I think not hostile company of the other electricians and roofers. I'll have to think carefully about the people first, since they range in age from 10 to 25 years younger than me, and don't know each other's music. I wonder what everybody knows and likes?
ReplyDeleteCanadians are not so reserved, but we are easily embarrassed! Will, I think the repertoire is crucial. Somewhere Over the Rainbow is a pretty good choice. Who doesn't know that one?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p-ruJ0sxi4
ReplyDeleteI work at a very small office. The boss does Contemporary R&B, the office manager, Christian 'praise music', one co-worker, rap, I have heard her say, or whatever Tek9 is, the one fellow, I have no idea, and then there's me. I would be hard pressed to come up with a song (other than, perhaps, the National Anthem or 'Amazing Grace') that we all know well enough to sing-- it is an amusing thought experiment, though. Some Christmas songs, probably.
ReplyDeleteChristine, I think it's about 50/50 whether I would want to join in or just beat the guy up and smash his beat box! I hate pre-recorded music blasted at me in public places. A completely acoustic low-key singalong is a different story.
ReplyDeleteYes, Marc, these are the wages of our fragmented culture. It used to be, I suspect, that the schools would acquaint most students with a repertoire of standard songs: Sloop John B, Puff the Magic Dragon, Lemon Tree, House of the Rising Sun, Hey Jude, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, songs from the Sound of Music, that kind of thing. This would be most helpful to those students who had little or no music in their home environment. But now, instead of these common songs, we have mass media, social media and an enormous amount of culture, very little of which is common to everyone.
Christine, I think I had never heard any Boney M. While I doubt I'd have been dancing, that would have been a pleasant enough addition to the morning commute.
ReplyDelete(I must add, however, in my role as social justice watchdog, that there are several levels of cultural appropriation going on in that song: I suspect that this is simply not acceptable.)
Marc, I'm sure you are a lovely dancer.
ReplyDeleteWell I never should have posted that clip. Boney M had a knack for creating songs that stick in your head like glue. I found the song bouncing around in my head at 2 in the morning and suddenly remembered reading Back from the Void, written by a climber who very nearly died alone in the snow after a fall. He was treated to an incessant concert of Boney M's Brown Girl. Check out the short clip from the movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO_uK33aQY8. I must have a sick sense of humor because it made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteI have an edgy sense of humor myself!
ReplyDeleteDamn, that's a surreal clip...
ReplyDeleteThere was a time, many years ago, when I had perfected the box step, ahem.
ReplyDeleteChristine, that was great. Thank you! It has gotten me to thinking, what would my brain use to motivate me out of a life-threatening situation like that? Let hope I never have to find out! but I suspect it would be something from the 70s.