Coming back yesterday from Elk Island with my friend from Victoria, we sang “Blake’s Jerusalem” and “Should I Put My Sail to Rest” in the Kingsfold Tune and other hymns. She has a lovely crystalline alto, and it is a pleasure to hear her sing.
In Toronto, the most complaints lodged against pilgrims using the trains coming home after World Youth Day was the singing. Whole trains would shake heavily from the Youth’s joyful noise.
I have to cross in front of Saint Joseph’s at noon to get to work. St Joes is the Catholic College, at noon the mass is conducted . The last thing I hear before work is Kyrie Eleison.
20 percent of the English population go to Church , Temple or Mosque. That’s about 7.2 Million people who sing along and know the words. 40 percent of Alberta goes to church, which is a little over a million people who listen to hymns once a week. What does all this mean? This blog is about pop music – or popular music. There is an implication that this is the only thing people listen to. There are, however, large streams of the vernacular that keep only to their own occasions.