[Dialogue] question to ponder

[frank bremner]

Thanks Pat

 

I guess the songs we learn first are most deeply embedded.  "Jesus love me / this I know / for the Bible / tells me so."(What's the book, chapter and verse? Or is this later theologising?) "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam / to shine for him each day."  "Build on the rock / the rock that ever stands."  "Up from the grave he arose / with a mighty triumph over his foes."  

 

"How great Thou art" and "Blessed Assurance" from Billy Graham's visit Down Under in 1959.  "God is working his purpose out / as year succeeds to year."  "This, this is the God we adore" (with the addition of "cha-cha-cha" by our youth group).  "Who would true valour see" finishing with "to be a Grimpil".  And so on.

 

Then add The Great American Songbook on Australian radio, before and after rock'n'roll: Jo Stafford, Gordon McRae, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Jerry Vale, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, the Maguire Sisters, Al Hibbler (the version of "Unchained Melody"), and so on.  Add on The Great Australian Songbook: Rolf Harris, Frank Ifield, Cole Joye and the Joy Boys, The Allen Twins (not twins, but one of them was Peter Allen), Jimmy Little etc.

 

Add in rock'n'roll: Heartbreak Hotel and other early Elvis, before jumpsuits; Bill Haley, rockabilly and Guy Mitchell, Wanda Jackson, Jery Lee Lewis, Cliff Richard.  And we had people like the late Johnny O'Keefe (Little Richard almost refused to go on after JO'K's opening act), Col Joye's wilder work, the late Billy Thorpe, Johnny Devlin.

 

All this is on my mind after recent conversation with fellow baby-boomers about the days when US records were often released 6 months later (eg surf record in time for our summer), or Bobby Rydell did an Aussie version of Twistin' USA.  Now it all happens at the same time worldwide and Australia is often seen as a strategic marketing point (as it was for Abba), and Australian artists are active on the world stage while often being based at home. We also discussed when, as adults, schoolkids said "wow!" to "Friday on my mind" by the Easybeats and we nonchalently said "Mmm.  Easybeats 1965!"

 

A broader agenda: if you were gathering a collection of songs for a school student songbook, for "around the campfire" moments at a school camp, what might be in it?  Ask your kids!  Ask your grandkids!  What songs of past years - that they've picked up from parents, friends, movies, radio, TV etc - would they also add? "Free Nelson Mandela" and "We are the world" have been suggested.

 

Back in early 1996 I showed a Year 10 class the film "Stand by me" (based on the Stephen King short story).  It's set in 1959 - I know 'cause I checked up on "Lollipop, Lollipop" in a friend's book of Billboard charts.  I gave the students an ORID set of questions for homework.  One of the later questions was "If you were to do a remake set in 1996, what music would you use?"

 

One students wrote "I'd use the same music.  The songs were better back then!"  An A+++ answer!

 

I appreciated the comment about the friend who said goodbye because the singing was so powerful.  But who could beat "I am a stranger here ....." which I used in a project about The Dark Night of the Soul?  Or the North American Continental Council when Del Morrill organised us into four groups to sing the "Hallelujah Chorus"?  

 

It breaks out in the shower, or in the car, or (even) walking down the street.  Some of "our" songs and words, any of the above, "Something's Coming" and other Bernstein or Sondheim.  Bernstein: anything from West Side Story or Mass (with Stephen Schwarz and Paul Simon).  Sondheim: anything from Sweeny Todd or Into The Woods (The Dark Night again).

 

Yeah, time to find my old Methodist Hymnal, and Wesley's intro (as Margaret suggested).  I also picked up The Methodist Hymn-Book Illustrated in History and Experience, full of background notes, and written by a John Telford and published in 1934 - found in a garage sale!  And my CD Sing Lustily and with Great Heart, of Wesleyan hymns sung by Mady Prior (of Steeleye Span) and the Carnival Band - sung in the raw style of singer(s) plus church band - before "professional" organists took over.

 

Best wishes 

 

Frank Bremner




From: ptuecke at charter.net
To: dialogue at wedgeblade.net
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:27:26 -0700
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] question to ponder





Thanks, Marge,
For the memories – (I’m channeling Bob Hope.)
I have some of the same memories – not so much of WWI songs, although I think some were “recycled” for WWII. Wasn’t “Over There” initially WWI?  My brother and I sang WWII songs. We dressed  in our little soldier and army nurse uniforms and sang to help sell War Bonds.  Whenever I hear “Off we go, into the wild blue yonder”  I see images of my childhood. My brother especially loved “From the Halls of Montezuma”. Of course, we learned all the church and Sunday School songs. Yes, we sang at school assemblies. And in the Forties and Fifties we sang all of the Broadway tunes and the great songs of the Thirties. And as you said, after TV came along in the Fifties, we didn’t sing so much. 
 
My father loved to sing and he sang a lot of time, working,  around the house, in the car. He taught us songs and we would sing from the back seat on trips. He had a gorgeous tenor voice, was asked to sing at events, did solos in church services - although I didn’t realize that as a young child. 
 
Much of my life, I’ve had music going in my head – without the need for an mp3 player. J The music, usually a song, would just be in the background of my awareness, and from time to time, come forward to my conscious awareness. I noticed that during treatment for my cancer that disappeared. Thankfully, a few years ago it came back. It is amusing to me when I become aware of the tunes in my head, the different genres they come from. Sometimes it is a Sunday School song : “Jesus loves me this I know” or one from the Cokesbury Hymnal which I called the Sunday Night hymnbook: Whispering Hope. Or the more majestic hymns we sang in Sunday morning service: A Mighty Fortress. The aspect of this that is amazing is that, after all the years of our singing in the OE/ICA, it is the church hymns that pop into my mind most often. And of course, I have to do a translation of all the old 2-story language.   
 
Pat
 
Patricia R. Tuecke, Sierra Circle Consulting
Facilitating Consensus & Collaboration 
        www.sierracircle.com
775-333-6998   pat at sierracircle.com
 
 
    
 

From: dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:dialogue-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Marge Philbrook
Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 5:53 AM
To: Colleague Dialogue
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] question to ponder
 
It is my memory that before TV, etc. everyone sang more.  As a family we sang, when we gathered at my grandparents home we sang, they had a old pump organ.  We sang "church" songs that we all knew and songs from the culture as well.  Music was more everyone did it.  In the first world war there were songs: "  What do you do the infantry, you march, you march you march."   "Some day I'm going to murder the buggler, some day their going to find him dead,  I'll amputate his revelle  and step upon it heavily, and spend the rest of my life in bed."  How do you spell revilee?  Then my memory tells me we sang at school whenever there was an assembly, we sang World War II songs.  about the army, the navy, the marines and the air force. And the "movements" of our time sang as well. We always sang in the civil rights movement.  And It's also the story that in South Africa the apartheid movement moved by song across the country.  When there was an event a song would be createad and sung across the country by black people to transfer the news, like on trains, etc. and soon events were known across the country and led to the ending of apartheid gradually.   I think it would be more of a surprise if we didn't sing in the order.  I think singing was one of our wellness exercises although we didn't know it at the time.    I also observe that the current ICA is not singing.
   

On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 11:48 PM, Nancy Lanphear <nancy at songaia.com> wrote:
Dear Ones, 

WHERE DID OUR SINGING AS AN ORDER COME FROM ?  WAS IT THE CHURCH?  WAS IT FROM MOVEMENT BUILDING ACTIVITIES?  One of our Songaians asked that question of us - he had given a tour today and was asked?  Please respond with answers or just your own stories.  I would love to hear from you about a spiritual practice that has opened so many hearts and places of energy, and at times literally kept us alive.

This has been a big week here at Songaia!  The national Cohousing conference is being held in Seattle this year and the executive director lives here.  He has enlisted most of us to contribute in one or many ways during the week.

On Monday night we hosted the International Summit group from the conference which translated into 38 folks from the group at dinner in our common house along with the 30 of us Songaians.  Of course we were our authentic selves and had singing, introductions, a birthday celebration with questions, and a fantastic meal -  a joyful time was had by all.

I led the singing and included Consider Yourself, This Little Light of Mine, and Oh, Mr. Sun and Russian Hymn for the Earth - the first was a song of welcome and the others, in acknowledgement of Summer Solstice and the wonder of gathering as Earthlings.  We ate in honor of communitarians and those who had not yet found themselves enveloped in a welcoming community.  

Following the meal we celebrated one member's birthday.  His name is Nartano and as he has been so moved by the ritual around each members birthday, he wanted to share the ritual with our guests.  Fred asked the questions of him and then shared words that recognized Nartano's role in the community.  

We closed the evening by singing the Irish Blessing to our guests.  They left with tears and smiles of joy and hope that if we could share the values of our community lifestyle with the world, it would be a more peaceful place to live.

Yesterday, Fred was awarded the Geoph Kozeny Award for a life of communitarian activities.  Our friend Geoph died a year ago with cancer.  Fred was so honored to be the first recipient of the award.

Today, we hosted 40 people who were on a cohousing community bus tour.  They came for lunch and a tour of Songaia.  Again, we sang before lunch, they joined in with great gusto!

Fred continues to be his spirited, wonderfilled self.  The huge limitations of movement and dextarity frustrate him but he keeps finding new ways to type - he now uses his thumbs and a voice activated computer program.  SINGING here at Songaia and at church is a lifeline for him.  Somehow with his breathing capacity greatly diminished, he still sings with joy and twice as many breaths.  At his ALS diagnosis 1 1/2 years ago, he promised me we would still be together to celebrate the journey of the 2 of us and the life of our family. We are celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary on July 4th with family and our community. 

We are so very grateful to be living in our community of Songaia.  And we are grateful for you,  our spirit community of many years.  Take care and remember that you are all loved, 

Nancy



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