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Starting the video a bit later to avoid the god-baggery they included in the beginning. :)
The Simon and Garfunkle green greatest hits album was the very first piece of music I acquired on Compact Disk. I can still remember receiving for Christmas a portable stereo system with the newfangled technology known as a “CD”. Oh, what aural experiences were to be had. :)
I’ve heard many covers of the Sound of Silence and was expecting a three minute tour on the good ship ‘Fail’, but was pleasantly surprised by this song. The lead singer of Disturbed has a surprisingly rich and emotive voice, it just never comes through while he sings in the other style that one might say is a smidge more raw.
Arb may not be such a fan of Silent Night, but it will always be special to me. In my church while I was growing up, we would end our Christmas Eve service by all getting out of the pews to stand in a huge circle around the sanctuary. We’d pass out candles, then turn out all the lights, so there total darkness except the Advent candles at the altar. Somebody who had perfect pitch – usually my mom – would sing the first note, and then we would all join in, and sing Silent Night a cappella, in English and German, while passing the flame from candle to candle around the room. After it was done, we’d all stand in reverent silence for a little while, then the lights would come back on and we’d blow out our candles and put on our coats and quietly file out into the normal world again.
As Arb said last week, we’ve sung Silent Night in choir every year since we joined. It is getting a little old – I wouldn’t mind a new arrangement – but this year our concert at the women’s prison made it new for me again. Here’s the arrangement we always use – this video is in Swedish because our director is Swedish and she likes this arrangement by the Swedish composer Anders Öhrwall. We do it generally in English, and sometimes in other languages. I usually sing the solo.
Our choir has a ‘sister’ choir at the prison; this was a joint concert with them. The women’s choir took the solo line together and I joined them to add a bit of power. We did the middle verse multiple times, in multiple languages: we sang softly on “ooo”, as we were joined by a prisoner who sang in French, a couple prisoners who sang in Cree, an off-duty guard who came in on her day off to sing in Ukrainian, and the chaplain who sang in Afrikaans. Finally, another prisoner had composed a rap to be spoken over us. Each soloist – even the guard – got applause and cheers. As we did our last verses with the rapper, the room fell silent except for the sobs of a couple prisoners in the second row who held one another as they openly wept, then as the rapper finished the whole room burst into rapturous applause and cheering. Even the on-duty guards allowed themselves to smile.
It’s funny. I hate everything prisons stand for, and I don’t believe in Christmas, but that night I felt the Christmas spirit for the first time since I was a child. And it’s real. That sense of community, that despite our differences we’re all family, even if only the most distantly related, is something we need to carry with us out into the cold night, and keep in our hearts the whole year.
So…
Wishing you joy, whatever holidays you may or may not celebrate at this time of year. May your days be merry and bright.
I kinda hate Silent Night as our choir has sung this tune to death over the last 5 or 6 years. However, you don’t see shit as fine as this everyday. Domingo is the gold standard for Tenors and all of us wee fledgling Tenors wish we could be a quarter as good as he is. :) So, we get a unique arrangement of Silent Night, with the Master singing. All is well.
**Fascinating stuff, I heard this tune, while doing the dishes, on CBC’s Vinyl tap(!). I usually cast a jaundiced eye toward shows centred around pop music and what not, but Saturday evenings, the choices available of good non-commerical radio is notoriously thin.
**So, dishes with the ‘Tap’ it was.
**And a quick trip through the neural wiring that constitutes my memory. Listening to this with my Mom in the car or at home on the radio… her gentle reassuring presence. These darn songs can bring back such vivid memories. I’ll be posting this to her facebook wall to see if she remembers as well. :)
“There’ll be no strings to bind your hands
not if my love can’t bind your heart.
And there’s no need to take a stand
for it was I who chose to start.
I see no need to take me home,
I’m old enough to face the dawn.
Just call me angel of the morning ANGEL
just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby.
Just call me angel of the morning ANGEL
then slowly turn away from me.
Maybe the sun’s light will be dim
and it won’t matter anyhow.
If morning’s echo says we’ve sinned,
well, it was what I wanted now.
And if we’re the victims of the night,
I won’t be blinded by light.
Just call me angel of the morning ANGEL
just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby.
Just call me angel of the morning ANGEL
then slowly turn away,
I won’t beg you to stay with me
through the tears of the day,
of the years, baby baby baby.
Just call me angel of the morning ANGEL
just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby.”
**
A love of Beethoven was one of the things Arb and I bonded over, early in our relationship. Going on a road trip in the mountains together, we brought along all nine symphonies, and the combination of gorgeous music, gorgeous scenery, and of course, plenty of New Relationship Energy, made for an almost transcendent experience.
Here’s a very unusual, and really well done take on the first movement of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. I wasn’t expecting to like it, but I really do. It’s fresh and full of energy and even though it’s different, the feel of the original is there. And the kid’s enthusiasm is just infectious.
I used to have a fantasy, before I knew how hard composing actually is, of writing a Rachmaninoff-style virtuosic concerto for electric guitar and full symphony orchestra. I think this just goes to show, somebody needs to do it.
This earworm will not go away. I cannot escape because I have to practice the damn piece for our upcoming choir performances. So what’s better than an earworm? Sharing one, of course. :)
This is the best version I can find on youtube, so until we bust out our version, this will have to do. :)
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
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