Do You Sing in the Shower?

I know I do.

I warble vocal warm-ups, and sing showtunes, and try to squeak out the Queen of the Night's famous aria from Mozart's "The Magic Flute" while shampooing my hair.

I also walk around campus whistling, I hum in the kitchen, and I drum out rhythms on my computer desk. Most people in America would probably classify me as a bit of a music nut. My friend just the other day was describing someone to me that they thought was a little overly artsy, and gave as an example the fact that that person sings while walking around campus.

Ooooh... burned! So do I.

Why does this seem weird to us in the USA? Knowing that I go around randomly singing, people would probably classify that I'm somewhat of a "musical person," and nod their heads in understanding once they heard I was from a "musical family."

Interestingly enough, other cultures don't have the same perspective on daily music that we do. In Liberia and other parts of West Africa, for example, all young men and women go through special training as part of their coming-of-age, which includes training in music and dance. Everyone is expected to be at least somewhat musically proficient, and they mix music into everything they do. Sometimes people march around town in the morning, singing a good-morning song, and everyone joins in the procession. When they are working in the rice fields, they sing a song and beat on drums so they can work in time to the music. In Ghana, even the postal workers, when cancelling stamps, devised a song that they whistle while creating an intricate rhythm with the stamps.

Now, I could be wrong, but it seems like the last time I was at a post office in the good old USA, it was silent, grim and gray. Emphasis on silent.

In Brazil, music is also enmeshed in daily life. In the past, Brazilian slaves who were trying to escape invented Capoeira, a sort of martial arts that they disguised with music to make it look like they were dancing. I was talking to a friend the other day who has spent a lot of time in Brazil, and she told me that there are always some kind of street performers out on the streets playing music and dancing.

Yet if I were to dance in the middle of Brigham Square and sing at the top of my lungs for long enough, I would probably end up in the campus paper.

I realize different cultures value different things, such as Canada's interest in hockey and Brazil's passion for soccer, but it seems to me that musical expression is a universal language that transcends the boundaries of nations. While not everyone can kick a soccer goal or skate on ice, pretty much anyone can listen to music. It seems very sad to me that our culture is missing the joy of integrating music into everyday life.

Imagine if you went into the DMV and the grim officials pulled out keyboard and sax and drums and jammed for you while you waited.

Imagine what your daily bus ride would be like if the bus driver sang showtunes.

Imagine what the wait would be like if you were sitting in the doctor's office and the receptionists started typing in rhythm and tapping their pencils and singing scat syllables.

Imagine what it would be like if you were waiting in a long line at a ticket office and everyone in line started clapping and singing while they waited.

I realize some people are easily distracted and annoyed by music, but I would love having it everywhere.

The USA has such a great musical heritage, and I would love to see us make the best of it. I would love to see music integrated into the daily American lifestyle.

This isn't just a fantasy - it has certainly been possible elsewhere. If you were in a post office in Ghana, you would hear something like this: