For several years I have been somewhat bothered by SA the singing of grace at our camps. There was something that has made me feel more unsettled each time I am at camp and grace is sung. Today as I listened to XM Radio I discovered the source of that discomfort.
Since last Thursday XM Radio has been playing the major pop hits. Starting with January 1940 they are playing 24/7 the hits in chronological order of when they were released. This morning they were up to March 1954, the month Hernando’s Hideaway was released and went on to become a hit.
Today, regardless of the camp, camp grace is normally sung to Duke Street, Montreal Citadel, Hernando’s Hideaway, and three or four other melodies to which grace was song when I first went to camp in the late 60s. Hernando’s Hideaway as a hit in 1954, and we still use it. What melodies from the last decade are we using? None. From the 80s? None. The 70s? Is the fact that we continue to use Hernando’s Hideaway and other long held melodies a symptom of traditionalism and complacency, and that we are loosing/have lost connection with popular culture? I now know the source of my discomfort and I am not sure I like what it signifies.
Your thoughts are welcome. Or better still, do your own blog.
Reflective Wanderings - Reflections on various topics that arise out of my personal, life and professional experiences. There are also are some family related news, travels and pictures.
3 comments:
We need up-to-date texts as well as up-to-date tunes. The current crops of both are very dated. The texts were old when our parents (in their 70s & 80s) were teens and the tunes were either well-established (Duke Street) or popular (Hernando's Hideaway) when they were teens and 20-somethings.
Since I'm definitely middle-aged, and, frankly, out of touch with the newest music, etc., I suggest that these tasks need to be undertaken by a younger generation than mine.
at Junior Music camp we always do popular themes to Grace, even "Hockey Night in Canada." I don't care what the tune is personally, whether old or new, it's a fun camp tradition and one that the kids always look forward to it. I have such fond memories of singing Grace at camp.
I always remember in my days singing it to Gilligan's Island, the Addams Family, or even the Flinstones.
Another common problem with is what words to use at the end. Are we going to fight and die for thee, live to serve thee, feast in paradise, etc. It seemed every camp had a preference. I had a former DC who used to announce "what we were going to do." He would say, "lets feast in paradise to Montreal Citadel."
That was much better than hearing the murmur at the end of people muddling through 17 different endings.
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