X’mas carols get a ‘rock’ing makeover

Christmas is around the corner. Even as many youngsters, Christian and non-Christian alike in Chennai, have joined carol groups to spread the message of love and joy, city choir groups have switched to belting out hybrid versions of the good ole carols. Christian devotional songs, the mainstay of Christmas, are now incorporating elements of different genres of popular music including rock n’ roll, blues, pop, Arabian, jazz, contemporary and what have you. Explaining the reason, James David, conductor, Emmanuel Methodist Church choir says, “Today, youngsters are exposed to different categories of music and it makes sense to introduce elements of music they enjoy and relate to. In order to make devotional songs more appealing to the younger generation, we decided to give it a modern-day makeover. So, we have songs like the very Oriental We Three Kings, to which we have given an Arabian twist. And, the regular melodious songs like December Child have been revamped with the riffs and beats of a rock song.”
Young musicians say that it’s not just the form of music, but even musicians specialising in different genres are now joining the revelries leading up to X’mas, irrespective of their religious inclinations. Saroop Oommen of the Unwind Center acoustic guitarist and vocalist with Kontagious remarks, “Non-Christian rock musicians across the city are now jamming together at various carol singing sessions and it’s great to have this kind of camaraderie. The best part of the festival is that it brings together people of various faiths.”
So what do people have to say about this? Points out Angeline Ruth Ranjitham, Methodist Youth Fellowship member, “I think it’s heartening to see youngsters taking to carols with these new styles of music. However, I personally like to sing carols in the old school way. There’s something about the charm of the original songs that the new styles cannot duplicate.”