Wesley and I attended the St Peters Episcopal Church yesterday for Worship. A quick aside, the church is delightful, the acoustics amazing and they have this world-renowned choir which travels far afield to sing. It’s an amazing church of which I would love to be a member.
However, not the point of the post. I truly hope not to embarrass him however Wesley has many skills however singing in tune is not always his forte. I completely get this. My eldest nephew, also with many skills, cannot hold a tune. The day got ahead of us so I didn’t actually get a chance to tell him this story and as the day progressed I really wish I had told him this earlier.
A pet peeve of mine. I can sing and possibly in tune. Some people cannot. It’s all good. There is nothing that annoys me more than when someone who may be loud or out of tune is told to shush. My youngest nephew told his brother this very thing before I came down on him like a tonne of bricks. The point of singing, whether you belong to a choir or sing in the shower, is to express joy. You are so full of happiness you burst into song. That should never be squashed, especially if you’re out of tune. Or loud. Or in perfect pitch.
It annoys me when people squash other people’s happiness. It occurs so rarely.
So my pet peeve over, I am in church with Wesley and we are singing our hearts out. And we get to one part off the service and we’re singing. And I have to stop singing. As Wesley sings this song completely perfectly. So I listen to my friend sing the entire song. I don’t sing another word. All I can hear is his voice. And buddy, it was beautiful.
But then everything you sang yesterday was beautiful.
Away For A Bit 
Did you pick that window for a reason? Did you know that is the only Tiffany original window left from the 1834 building of the church? It is also my favorite.
Thank you for the compliment. I really can sing if I pay attention. But often my mind wanders during songs I don’t enjoy.
It is the most beautiful window in the church, even though the others are lovely.
And it seemed appropriate for the content of the post.
You did well yesterday. Your singing was lovely. Im not sure if you realised I had stopped to listen
That was lovely, what you wrote. I agree wholeheartedly with your philosophy. I love to sing, but always in tune I am not. People who shush me don’t realise how much it crushes the spirit, but I get over it quickly and keep on singing regardless. It cheers me up and there are many times I need cheering up, so on I go, la di dah-ing to my hearts content. Most times when I’m singing, it’s to bands like the Clash and Ramones, and if it ain’t fun to sing along with those guys, I don’t know what is. Who needs to be in tune? Not them. Not me!!! And completely off the subject, Nigel, it’s nice to hear you are indulging your spiritual side on your wordly travels. Good on ya, mate!
I can’t sing in tune at all, but I love warbling and croaking along to music that moves me. I do admit though that I don’t inflict it on anyone but Wayne, who has been remarkably tolerant over the years at my mangling of note after note.
I agree with you, Nigel, about the joy of it. There is something about human voices raised in song (most especially melodic ones) that stirs us deeply.
I’ve just subscribed to Naxos.com where, for $20 a year, you can stream their CD collection. You can play a whole CD, but only one song at a time, so you do have to pay attention. It’s great, though, and makes my working day go faster. Unfortunately, it’s also introduced me to music I want to have all the time, such as the Anthology of Icelandic Choir Music: http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=bis-cd-239. It’s already on order.
Keep on singing. Lift your voice up on high!
well I did not realise that you were of the traditional spiritual kind Nigel.I have learnt many things during this journey.I love to sing and can hols a note or two and have sung in several choirs over the years, but it annoys the hell out of me when people say”don’t give up your day job”, it is akin to the shush! and I too like Christopher, continue my tra la la la-ing
despite of those people.Singing is not only good for the lungs,it releases endorphins. So “sing like no-one is listening” I say!!!!!!
P.S I always dreamed of being a shoo waddy wop girl
Maybe you could hyperlink http://www.st-petersweb.org to your blog and let your readers get an idea of my church home.
Good idea. Forgot to do that.
And thanks to everyone for their comments. It amazes me when people respond to a blog post.
Again didn’t expect to hit a common nerve. Was good.
Nigel, I sing like crap. And I’ve been told that my whole life. I was not allowed to join the choir….in 3rd grade! In 5th grade I was told to lip sync when the class sang.
Anyway, when I’m in church, I prefer to sit where no one is in front of me….so I can sing & not worry about making anyone sick.
After all, God gave me this voice….He must not mind it!
I’m glad you were kind to us voice challenged folk. When I first started to read it, I thought ‘Oh boy….here we go again.’ What a pleasant turn it took!!!!!!!
Exactly my point Peggy. God doesn’t make mistakes. You sound perfect to Him.
And this really is my pet peeve. I’ve seen far too many people’s souls be absolutely crushed by being told to shush. It’s like a flash of pain.
I stomp on people who do that to the less melodic now. It really, really annoys me and this post clearly hit a note, pardon the pun, with the readers