Hello to all.
Believe it or not, ages ago when you might have gone around before the holidays singing "Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg..." you were acting in the true spirit of caroling.
Because, even more ages ago, caroling was more about dance. Carols (which, by the way, were not just about Christmas but rather for many different religious and seasonal holidays - there were Easter carols and New Year's carols and even Saint Stephen's Day carols) would have specific melodies and harmonies, like fiddle tunes if you will, and people often created their own lyrics for them as the occasion warranted. Sometimes there would even be contests as to who could come up with the best lyric for a given carol.
So this week, pick a carol, any carol and give it a new verse. One, single, well-written and heartfelt verse. And it doesn't have to be about Christmas, as we just discussed. You can choose to create a carol for any religious or seasonal holiday.
However, I would like you all to be earnest about this, meaning go for a verse that's in the spirit of whichever holiday you choose. Don't go for the easy joke. It takes a good writer to be sentimental and earnest when it's way too easy to slip over into the realm of cliché.
As always, I look forward to reading and to listening to (or, in this case, hearing in my head) what you come up with.
Peace
I assume that we are supposed to use tunes that are i the public domain. Songs like "Silver Bells", "White Chrismas", "Rudolf the Red..." are copywrited.
Before you posted this I was thinking about rewriting the Coventry Carol to reflect the events at Sandy Hook. The Coventry Carol is about the "Slaughter of the Innocents" where Herod had all the young children in Bethlehem murdered. Thats why the story says Mary, Joseph and Jesus went to Egypt.
You're right about the copyright, but for the purpose of this exercise, (and as long as you're not recording) you can use whichever carol you'd like.
"The Coventry Carol" is a great choice. Lots of guitarists have terrific instrumental arrangements of this one and your ideas on the lyrics would certainly be inspiring. A great many people have Sandy Hook in mind and, if the last three open mics I've gone to listen to are any indication, a lot of songs are being written about it. Or "additionally re-written," like a carol in some cases. It was the hearing of many "new additional" verses to old songs on the topic that lead to this week's assignment.
Peace
