Born Tone Deaf in the Land of Song

[snailrind]

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to learn to sing one song in tune. To begin with, I went with the Fleet Foxes' White Winter Hymnal.

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 It's a beautiful and, I thought, simple song. But however many times I sang it, I couldn't get my voice around the line "and I turn round and there you go". Something happens in that line, and I lack the

Comments

[uk_sef]

For me, Cerys Matthews is in the set of people who can't sing very well! But that doesn't seem to matter for rock/pop star celebrity these days. I don't know how much it really mattered for minstrelhood umpteen centuries ago either though. I could just be imagining a golden past in which people were genuinely judged on merit in at least this one activity (because that would still require the audience to be musically competent enough to judge properly).

[snailrind]

I wondered whether someone would say that about Cerys. I nearly put a different vid of the song up, but I tend to prefer her voice and singing to highly-polished versions such as this:

[uk_sef]

Ah, but I don't like the operatic style - on principle, regardless of whether the singer is any good! I prefer plain singers but not defective ones. It's possibly partly a science thing - of aiming for the pure sine wave while everyone else likes the affectations and ornamentations.

Interestingly, that first bit of Calon Lan (in the Cerys version) is rather like On The Banks Of Allan Water, while the second (completely different) section is a famous(?) hymn tune. Whereas, wikipedia claims Calon Lan is almost never used as anything in English.

[snailrind]

Katherine Jenkins is singing it the more usual way; Cerys is adding her own flavour to the song. I love Cerys's accent--it charms me to pieces, and that's why I like to hear her sing.

Could the popular hymn you're thinking of in fact be Calon Lan? It's very distinctive, and is often played in dramas set in Wales and so on.

I'm surprised you don't like the operatic style! I had you pegged as someone who would, and who might even sing in it.

[uk_sef]

I'm a sine-wave person (something which is very abnormal!). I *can* add affectations to my voice (and sing in different styles) but I generally disapprove of such things - apart from special occasions such as singing the hippopotamus song (very deep and serious operatic-style voice, with much waggling of eyebrows).

No, the hymn part is definitely English. I never learned anything exclusively Welsh. It might be a Unitarian special though. I have a minion trying to look it up now ... ;-)

[uk_sef]

... no luck so far. My minion has trouble holding the tune in memory though! Meanwhile, the online tunefinders are rubbish (as usual).

[snailrind]

Do either of these translations mean anything to you?

[snailrind]

Oh, wait: it mentions a Methodist hymn: I Will Sing the Wondrous Story.

[uk_sef]

That will probably be the first section - the tune Cerys sings twice through before launching into a completely different melody and rhythm.

However, what I'm finding online for "I Will Sing the Wondrous Story" is neither of the tunes!