Singing Christmas Carols in December all over the country
Christmas season in the Philippines is highly anticipated by school-age children as an open season to singing Christmas carols and earn extra money each night with their friends by standing in every one’s front doors.
Adults love hearing children sing Christmas carols simply because Christmas is here, a time for joy, a time for merriment, a time for renewal of virtues for peaceful happier and prosperous life. Virtuous way of life is exulted through Christian melodies of songs and sounds.
Along with Christmas decorations around homes, stores, offices and businesses - the Christmas lights, banners, decorated trees along the roadsides - words and sounds of Christmas carols are in the air from singing mouths of the children around the neighborhood.
Christmas Carols are Contagious
Going around singing Christmas carols is popular to just about anyone - the young and old alike, novice singers or professional choirs, in public or private places, by the poor man’s doorsteps or by the rich man’s patios - as a profitable way to raise funds either for own’s pocket or for a cause.
Poor children who need some extra coins for food and school do Christmas caroling in their neighborhood. While well organized choral groups focus on affluent neighborhoods; the more professional the choir is, the bigger is the money flow. Its popularity has it that almost about every Filipino in one way or another, joined Christmas caroling, in school, in church, or in their neighborhood at one time or another. With instruments, or no instruments, oftentimes, experience is not necessary so everyone gets a chance to sing.
Christmas Carol Instruments
Though the myriad of accompanying musical instrument depends on the sophistication of each group, the sound instrument most children use to accompany christmas carols is made up of soda bottle caps flattened out straight and strung together into a handy wire loop. Sticks and pans put some clinking, stones and cans add more tinkling, delightfully blending in with favorable harmony. Crude as they are but the melody of sounds they attain is pleasing and distinctively Christmas.
These singing company of children, along with the festive holiday decorations all around, Christmas carol songs broadcasted on the radios, all uplift one’s spirit providing joys and pleasures making life even more meaningful and happier. Merry and bright, blessed and blissful is the Christmas in the Philippines that every one awaits joyously, each month bringing them closer to the months of “ber” until finally it’s “Decem…”
Merry Christmas Everyone
Yet, different people are delighted in many different ways. Some are delighted in playing generous to these singing strangers. Some are delighted rather by hiding away from or stopping these “money monsters” even before they sing.
Still some others are delighted to have a ferocious dog bark them away, if not chase these carolers out of their sight.But tradition doesn’t change. Christmas carolers have always been a part of the Philippine Christmas and forever will they stay to sing the songs of Christmas.
by Knoell Villalon who loves taking Philippine Photos
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