Frustratingly our server & internet is off-line, I’ve made calls, my hot cross bun has been eaten… so… some thoughts:
Our recent choir concert at Oakham School Chapel was a great experience! Two choirs together, 110+ voices, made a great sound – I am told. Singing with 100 people was invigorating and possibly helped rekindle a glowing ember that I guess I had not been fuelling.
“Singing”, making a noise… what’s it all about… expression?
I briefly overheard someone recently, casually singing their own song as they walked down the street.
Compare this with the routine recitation of a prescribed composition.
The true expression of a feeling, often with a subconscious root, is what it’s about, I think.
Rather than trying too hard to tick all the right boxes; steer, balance and navigate – just let it out? Chill out, dude?
The spark was going out and my singing of songs had become a tad stale.
As with anything, occasionally I guess a splash of water, a wake up, a refreshing baptism, can help.
The simple overhearing of the man in the street and the (if you look for it) seemingly ever-present birdsong seems to have helped me. I guess that’s what a routine purge/fast/ritual can help do.
Over the last month, I have forsaken the daily ipod fix during the commute to work. I have gone without the opiate of prescribed ‘music’, entertaining “Desert Island Discs”, mind-bending “In Our Time”, and the pap they call “Stuff You Should Know”, etc. It’s been tempting in the last week to plug back into the drip but I have upheld the cold turkey.
Strip it back down to the basics – wind (cold) in the face, ubiquitous (wild)life, rain down the collar, nature on the air, exhaust up the nose… beauty juxtaposed with pestilence etc.
The choir’s post-concert meeting was a stripped back affair; just singing for pleasure with no specific pressure to “get it right”! OK yes, pressure to get it right is good for polishing the rough edges, but first let’s just pull the diamond from the ground.
We sang casually, from memory, hypnotic recall and expression of something – possibly satisfaction and thanks.
I think we could possibly all do with some off-line casual expression of satisfaction and thanks.
Have a hot cross bun… sing your song!?
Jules P Richards 