One and the Same

"Well, Christmas is upon us once again", as the great Charlie Brown once said. That also means that everyone is playing Christmas music everywhere, in the stores, in the streets, in homes, everywhere. One song and video in particular stood out to me: David Bowie and Bing Crosby singing a medley of "Little Drummer Boy" and "Peace on Earth." It is quite obvious why this performance stood out to me, just from the names of the performers, but the entire pretense of the song houses a deeper meaning than just the fact two legends are performing a song together.

Bing Crosby made his fame in the thirties and forties with his music known today as big band music or as a "crooner," with songs such as "White Christmas," "Baby, It's Cold Outside," and "Danny Boy," while David Bowie made his fame as a glam rocker in the seventies and eighties, with songs such as "Suffragette City," "Let's Dance," and "Heroes," basically the parallel opposite of Crosby. What makes this performance so interesting lies within the mutual respect that the two singers have for each other, despite one being old and the other being relatively modern. Despite the age differences, the singers represented popular music at their time in the world, and even though they may have different mediums to their music, both singers are more alike than most people could see from their music.

By the singers coming together and collaborating, they showed how, even with vast differences, people can come together and work together and respect each other. Now, I don't want to come off as one of those crazy people saying, "no more trouble, no more wars, love for everyone," because that probably is not possible, but this performance showed how different age groups, or countries, or ethnicities can come together and work with each other. The way that Bing Crosby and David Bowie blend the Christmas standards using their characteristic voices unveils the songs in a new, slightly contradictory light, almost like, "What is this? I don't know how to explain the sounds I am hearing!" But maybe this fact is why the song has endured over the years.

The symbolic meaning of the performance gives anyone who watches the video or hears the song a feeling of hope that one day the world will get over themselves and work together. Wait, I just found another of the meanings of Christmas; Bring on the holiday special.