Quite enough ink has been spilled, and lips flapped, about
how our country is bitterly divided politically. I will not add to such
analysis but will instead suggest a modest idea that might get us off on a
better foot for 2019.
The 116th Congress will convene January 3, 2019.
All 435 Representatives will assemble in the House. They will be sworn in,
their families looking on. There will be a prayer and then important business
to transact, such as the election of the Speaker. But before that business, I suggest
the House - Democrats, Republicans - pause
to join together in song.
There are numerous studies that outline the benefits of
singing. Some are scientific in nature.
It is widely believed that singing releases endorphins, the chemicals
that affect the sense of happiness in one’s brain. Singing relieves stress by
reducing muscle tension. These and other benefits are magnified by singing in a
group.
A 2015 article in Open Science, a journal published by the Royal
Society (UK) entitled “Singing and
Social Bonding” suggests evidence of “an ice breaker effect of singing, in promoting fast cohesion between unfamiliar
individuals, which bypasses the need for personal knowledge of group members
gained through prolonged interaction.” That certainly fits the situation in the
ceremony of gathering and swearing in of a new Congress. Lots of ice is ready and needing to be
broken.
I call upon Speaker-In-Waiting Nancy Pelosi and the Minority
Leader Kevin McCarthy to demonstrate a simple act of bipartisanship and set the
tone for a new Congress by agreeing to schedule group singing by all attendees
at the ceremony on January 3, 2019. They might even find making the decision a distraction from
the government shutdown crisis.
What to sing? An obvious choice is a patriotic selection. Not,
I say, the “Star Spangled Banner.” Our national
anthem, because of its wide vocal range, is difficult to sing for the ordinary
person, thus the need for a trained soloist to render it before events. Cameras
catching crowds at stadiums during its rendition will see some singing part of
it, some lip syncing and some blank faces that want to shout “play ball”
instead. If you want an example of a crowd getting into singing its national song,
check out on YouTube 70,000 Welsh fans before a rugby match belting out “Bread
of Heaven ” (Cwm Rhondda).
.
The music for the “Star Spangled Banner” was first composed for a British
men’s social club in 1773. Called “Anacreon in Heaven” It soon became a popular
drinking song, which may have it made its musical challenges less daunting to
its original singers. It became well
known in the U.S. Amateur poet Francis Scott Key, inspired by the flag still
flying at Ft. McHenry during a 1814 naval battle in Baltimore wrote the lyrics to
fit with “Anacreon” that ultimately became
our National Anthem.
For the congressional group singing I suggest instead the
patriotic song and hymn “America The
Beautiful.” My reasons have to do the
ease by which its lovely melody can be sung by amateurs and by its lyrics,
which were composed originally as a poem in 1895 by Katherine Lee Bates, then a
professor of English at Colorado College. She was inspired by the views she
enjoyed from a visit to Pikes Peak (“O Beautiful for spacious skies, for amber
waves of grain”). It was later set to
music originally composed in 1882 by a New Jersey church musician Samuel
Augustus Ward .
As contrasted to the militaristic nature of the Star
Spangled Banner (“rockets’ red glare, bombs bursting in air”) America the
Beautiful, as its title suggests, celebrates the beauty of our vast land (“…for
purple mountain majesties. Above the fruited plain.”) In its clearly patriotic emphasis it also several
times calls upon the Almighty for help: “America! America! God shed his light
on thee.” Surely that appeal would be welcomed these days, especially in the House
Chamber.
All four verses should be sung (when was the last time you
heard or tried any but the first verse of the National Anthem?) as they have
important messages for this ad hoc choir. Consider these excerpts:
“ America, America, God mend thy every flaw, confirm thy
soul in self control. Thy liberty in law”
“And crown they good with brotherhood, from sea to shining
sea”
The singers may need some initial encouragement so I suggest finding
a chorus in support. To avoid partisan bickering over which one or where it’s from, let’s settle on the glee club from The U.S. Naval
Academy from nearby Annapolis. But its participation must not take the place of
everyone in the chamber singing together.
I guarantee a robust rendition by all. And maybe this way there will be a few minutes
of harmony in the U.S. House of
Representatives.
Comments on this and other posts to be found in the archives to the left are welcome at gplatt63@gmail.com
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