Saturday, December 26, 2009

Grass-stained clothes

If you're not among those who are there in person, Christmas Eve in Melbourne usually means watching Carols by Candlelight on television. This has certainly become something of a tradition in my family. While I usually enjoy live music, I have mixed feelings about Carols by Candlelight. It's an important charity event for Vision Australia, and it's great that all of the performers generously give their time to support it. On the other hand, very few carols are sung, and this means that the night could be better described as more of a Christmas concert than a carols service. Whose idea was it to have two of the cast members from the musical Mamma Mia to perform an ABBA song? Why do Hi-5 perform the same song every year? There's a good reason why Aussie carols have never caught on; they're naff. Can the presenters cut back on their scripted 'witty' banter as well? It doesn't work. As far as I know, only some of the performers were Christians. For those who weren't, I pray that they think about the words of the songs they sung that night, and that through this, they might grasp something of the true meaning of Christmas.

4 comments:

feeno said...

Hey Boss

Sometimes I feel like that can be a good thing. It might be the only time some performers even get a glimpse of Christianity. And we never know what kind of seeds were planted? And the same can be said for those who are watching?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

feeno

Kitty Cheng said...

Hey Ross,
I think as much as Carols by Candlelight don't have many carols, those that are really capture my heart. I was there on the Dress Rehearsal and the atmosphere was great. And I pray in agreement with you that those who aren't Christians will reflect on the words of the songs and truly understand the meaning of Chrismtas and the reason for the season.

J Curtis said...

They're "naff"???

Ross said...

JD,

It's not terribly patriotic of me to say so, but they're not very good. The lyrics are alright, but they're uninspiring to sing because they have no tune.

Here's some links to a couple of Aussie carols, Carol of the Birds and Christmas Where the Gum Trees Grow.

Let me know what you think.

http://uqconnect.net/~zzdmcana/Man_From_Snowy_River_Arena_Spectacular/Carol-of-the-Birds.html

http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/xmas/christmaswherethegumtreesgrow.shtml