PDS: Public Displays of Singing

        According to Andy Crouch, today’s America is nothing like how it was in the earlier days. How Crouch described the young America, he made it seem like people would randomly burst out singing anywhere and everywhere. Like America was some sort of Disney movie filled with dreams coming true and happy endings. Of course, the reality was much less charming. I think that what our society deems acceptable these days reflects this generations desire to move past the horrors of the older generations, and sadly, that included getting rid of public singing.

        Then again, I couldn’t imagine an America where we all sang together, at anything -other than birthdays. Andy did recognize the fact that the singing wasn’t necessarily the best, but it was the meaning behind the act. In our society, we are afraid to express ourselves in ways that could expose our soul. Singing happens to be something that could reveal a lot about the person, and we are criticized on our ability to sing. It’s something that terrifies us. Only in large crowds and choirs do we even feel capable in our ability to sing. Pete Seeger made an observation about humans and our ability to sing. He said that many people can’t sing on key, but all crowds can. But nowadays it’s hard to find a situation where a crowd would be singing, and any one person is afraid to start singing, so singing crowds are hard to find. The only atmosphere you could find people singing in crowds is at a concert, where the main performer leads everyone and you can’t help but to sing along.

        I honestly have no idea what would happen if you did go back to the way things were. I would think that too many people would be too uncomfortable to participate. I know I would be.