{"id":4238,"date":"2024-12-03T08:33:15","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T13:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4238"},"modified":"2024-12-03T08:34:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T13:34:08","slug":"the-little-drummer-boy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/03\/the-little-drummer-boy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Little Drummer Boy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>

Bing Crosby and David Bowie singing a Christmas duet?

Crosby, the World War II-era crooner, was skeptical. What he knew of British rock didn\u2019t exactly enchant him.

Bowie dragged his heels, especially when he found out they would be singing a song he couldn\u2019t stand. 

But Bowie\u2019s mother was a huge Crosby fan. So as a favor to his mum he agreed, in September 1977, to join Crosby in singing The Little Drummer Boy<\/em> for an upcoming holiday TV special.

The Little Drummer Boy <\/em>came right out of Crosby\u2019s era. 

It was written in 1941 by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis, and was first recorded in 1951 by the Trapp Family Singers. Yes, that would be the same Trapp family made famous by Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. <\/em>

The song describes a poor young boy who joins the Magi in acknowledging Jesus\u2019 birth. 

Not having a gift to share, he plays his drum for the newborn Messiah. \u201cI played my best for Him,\u201d he sings. Jesus responds with a smile. 

At the recording session, when it became obvious that Bowie (famous for adopting such off-the-wall stage personas as Ziggy Stardust, Halloween Jack, and the Thin White Duke) was seriously unmotivated, a handful of songwriters saved the day. 

They quickly penned a tune with simple lyrics called Peace on Earth <\/em>that Bowie could sing as a counterpoint to Drummer Boy. <\/em>The duet thus became an intertwining of two gentle songs.

Here\u2019s the result: Bing Crosby, David Bowie – Peace On Earth \/ Little Drummer Boy<\/a>

The first two minutes feature some predictably awkward inter-generational dialogue. But as soon as these two extraordinary voices of the 20th<\/sup> century begin to harmonize, it\u2019s clear why the recording became a chart-topper on both sides of the Atlantic. 

In a sense, the song was Crosby\u2019s final gift to the world. He died of a heart attack one month later \u2013 weeks before Peace on Earth \/ The Little Drummer Boy <\/em>debuted at Christmas.  

Here\u2019s the chorus of Peace on Earth<\/em>: \u201cEvery child must be made aware, every child must be made to care; care enough for his fellow man, to give all the love that he can.\u201d 

While Crosby chants pa-rum-pum-pum-pum<\/em>, Bowie sings:

I pray my wish will come true<\/em>
For my child and your child, too<\/em>
He\u2019ll see the day of glory<\/em>
See the day when men of good will<\/em>
Live in peace, live in peace again<\/em>
Peace on earth: can it be? Can it be?<\/em>

Every word in that verse can be understood from a secular (non-religious) point of view \u2013 except for the word \u201cglory.\u201d 

That\u2019s because glory is a Bible word. It\u2019s a translation of the Hebrew term that also means \u201cweight.\u201d It\u2019s the centerpiece of the angels\u2019 song in Luke 2:13-14:

\u201cSuddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, \u2018Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.\u2019\u201d 

Giving glory to God means assigning him weight <\/em>\u2013 allowing God to become the heaviest presence in our lives. 

Unfortunately, America hums along as if God were weightless. Do we really need God to get through the next 24 hours \u2013 to do our investing, job-searching, cooking, lovemaking, shopping, or politicking? 

One of the primary temptations of modern culture is to live, for all intents and purposes, as functional atheists. Even in our churches, there is all too often a spirit of casual familiarity with God, where the High King of Heaven is portrayed as our best friend, our co-pilot, or a smiling heavenly therapist who is here for us<\/em>.    

But that is not what the angels meant by giving God glory. <\/em>

As David Bowie and Bing Crosby sing, we all dream that Earth might one day be overwhelmed with peace.

According to the angels, that\u2019s a reality that will draw closer when our lives are anchored by the weightiness of God.   

That is, when God receives the glory that God alone deserves. 
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Bing Crosby and David Bowie singing a Christmas duet? Crosby, the World War II-era crooner, was skeptical. What he knew of British rock didn\u2019t exactly enchant him. Bowie dragged his heels, especially when he found out they would be singing a song he couldn\u2019t stand.  But Bowie\u2019s mother was a huge Crosby… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[840,841],"class_list":["post-4238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christmas-songs","tag-glory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4238"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4241,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4238\/revisions\/4241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}