Drums

At Christmas I am often reminded that the changes in my personality are quite organic. I guess, I remember that I am the same person I have always been, only older, If that makes sense. When I list the sorts of books and movies I loved when I was little, it looks nothing like my taste now. But I can see how one set of tastes grows out of another.

How does this relate to Christmas... well, who remembers the drummer boy stop animation video. It was never a classic in my house, but I know it is in many households. I would have loved it as a little girl. But I can't actually sit through it now. But I've always loved the carol that the movie was based on. Ironically, when I was little I liked it because I liked to say "pah-rum-pum-pum-pum." (My other favorite christmas was Oh Holy Night because it had the line "Fall on your knees")

When I was a teenager I was glad that the a cappella quartet group I was in didn't end up singing it because I couldn't get through it without tearing up. At that point, I loved it because of the second verse. I identified with the boy who is impoverished and never good enough. "I am a poor boy too/ I have no gift to bring/ that's fit to give a king"

I heard a version once that was by a band that had a great drum solo in the middle. I have never figured out who did that version, but I liked it.

I love a good choral version of this song, but somehow, it seems like the perfect song for a rougher sound.

 It's about not being polished, or high brow, or good enough for the elite, deeply religious people who really understand Christmas. Of course, that is a great contradiction because a sincere follower of Christ, no matter what their intellectual or social status, is not an elitist. So they will kneel at the manger beside the smelly shepherds and the heathen kings, and the little boy with spiky hair who makes a lot of noise on his drum set.

I like the expression on this guys face while he beats the heck out of that drum set. I have no idea who he is.

So perhaps there is a part of me that still secretly loves the sappy and melodramatic spirit of the song. I know a lot of people hate this song for how cheesey it is. But I grew out of the type of girl who took such things very seriously. For example, I totally took Star Wars Episode One seriously until Episode Two came out and I realized that it was completely ridiculous.

So I never get tired of hearing a new version of the Drummer Boy Song. I even put up with the Celtic Women singing it, but I will spare you that video.

"I played my drum for him/ I played my best/ then he smiled at me/ me and my drum"

It's a very simple gift and a very simple acceptance from God made man.