One of my mother\u2019s favorite holiday songs is \u201cThe Little Drummer Boy.\u201d The \u201coriginal version\u201d:<\/p>\n
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>While we have numerous recordings of this on various holiday records, the one I know best is the Bing Crosby and David Bowie version, \u201cThe Little Drummer Boy: Peace on Earth\u201d, which is a different song than the original.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/n9kfdEyV3RQ\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/n9kfdEyV3RQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>While listening to the song this week, as I was trying to get into the Holiday mood, the lyrics \u201cpeace on earth\u201d kept coming to mind. In doing a bit of research about this somewhat odd duo of Bing Crosby and David Bowie, I discovered that the initial lyrics of the song didn’t include the phrase \u201cpeace on earth\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.41051.com\/xmaslyrics\/drummer.html\">http:\/\/www.41051.com\/xmaslyrics\/drummer.html<\/a>). My curiosity was peaked, and I continued to google (I mean research!) how the performance of these two music legends came to be.\u00a0 While I can’t testify to the accuracy and validity of my sources, I read that David Bowie did not want to sing \u201cThe Little Drummer Boy\u201d for Crosby\u2019s Holiday special in 1977, and people wondered if Bing Crosby even knew who David Bowie was. However, it appears that at the time Bowie decided to be on this special TV show as a way to appear \u201cnormalized\u201d. The story goes that the tune and lyrics for \u201cPeace on Earth\u201d were re-written by David Bowie, Ian Fraser, Larry Grossman, and Alan Kohan, just for this recording. If you listen closely, you can hear Crosby sing more of the traditional \u201cLittle Drummer Boy\u201d, while Bowie brings in the phrase \u201cPeace on Earth.\u201d (Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Peace_on_Earth\/Little_Drummer_Boy\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Peace_on_Earth\/Little_Drummer_Boy<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Though I’m not old enough to be part of Bowie\u2019s \u201cglory days\u201d of glam rock, my older second cousins exposed me to this artist when I was a youngster, and I still have clear memories of seeing Labyrinth in the theater (i.e. staring David Bowie). Whether we attribute the meaning and lyrics of \u201cPeace on Earth\u201d to Bowie and his co-writers, I believe it is a beautiful song- one that still has meaning in a world not is still not peaceful, or for that matter, tolerant. See the powerful lyrics below, in which I bold the \u201cPeace on Earth\u201d message.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Peace on Earth, can it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(A newborn King to see, pa-ram-pam-pam-pam)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Years from now, perhaps we’ll see<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(Our finest gifts we bring, pa-ram-pam-pam-pam)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>See the day of glory<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(See the fine King, pa-ram-pam-pam-pam, ra-pam-pam-pam)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>See the day when men of good will<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(Ra-pam-pam-pam)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Live in peace, live in peace again<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(So newborn king, pa-ram-pam-pam-pam)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Peace on Earth<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Can it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(Can we come?)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Every child must be made aware<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Every child must be made to care<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Care enough for his fellow man<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>To give all the love that he can<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(Little baby, pa-ram-pam-pam-pam)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>I pray my wish will come true<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(I see the child, pa-ram-pam-pam-pam)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>For my child and your child too<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(I’ll take my trumpet, pa-ram-pam-pam-pam)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>He’ll see the day of glory<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(I’ll play my best for Him, pa-ram-pam-pam-pam, ra-pam-pam-pam)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>See the day when men of good will<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(Ra-pam-pam-pam)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Live in peace, live in peace again<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(And he smiled at me, pa-ram-pam-pam-pam)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Peace on Earth<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(Me and my drum)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Can it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Source:: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.songlyrics.com\/bing-crosby-david-bowie\/peace-on-earthlittle-drummer-boy-lyrics\/\">http:\/\/www.songlyrics.com\/bing-crosby-david-bowie\/peace-on-earthlittle-drummer-boy-lyrics\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>So you can see that David Bowie wanted to strengthen the message of this song. Yes, the lyrics he wrote used gendered language, but perhaps we can forgive him because this was 1977, on the Bing Crosby show, when he was trying to appear \u201cnormal,\u201d and normal was gendered at that time. But if you know David Bowie\u2019s work you know he was not about dichotomous gender roles. Think of \u201cRebel, Rebel\u201d, one\u00a0 of my favorite songs by him.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"David Bowie - Rebel Rebel\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Sa6bI_95G9I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Thus, dear Feminist Reflection readers, I leave you with this to reflect upon. This recording of The Little Drummer Boy was from 1977. It is now 2015. Where are we now? Do we have peace on earth?\u00a0 No. We still live with bigotry, prejudices, and fear. Racism, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and related oppressions still exist. Gains have been made, such as the legalization of same sex-marriage by SOCUTUS and students and others willing to stand up for Black Lives Matters. Yet, you can still be fired for being gay in some states, though you can be legally married. Young black men are shot. We deny sanctuary to refuges, although our government policies contributed to this global battle that resulted in a refugee crisis. We use our \u201cbeliefs\u201d based on fear instead of compassion and tolerance.<\/p>\n<p>As we approach the new year – in the midst of this Holiday season – I ask, how can we accomplish peace on earth? And how can we carry this message forward beyond \u201cthe Holidays” where giving seems to be cherished and praised more? How can we make structural changes that will bring about peace? How do we teach children and each other tolerance? How do we give peace to our own selves in a chaotic world?<\/p>\n<p>Whatever you believe or do not believe in, I say, in trying to the be the most inclusive I can, \u201cHappy Holidays\u201d, but please keep in mind how we can create peace on earth.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of my mother\u2019s favorite holiday songs is \u201cThe Little Drummer Boy.\u201d The \u201coriginal version\u201d: While we have numerous recordings of this on various holiday records, the one I know best is the Bing Crosby and David Bowie version, \u201cThe Little Drummer Boy: Peace on Earth\u201d, which is a different song than the original. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1988,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10580,30335,55,5007,175,1],"tags":[37909,30415,3973,37852,37886,254,21526,16440,14,306],"class_list":["post-2516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-empowerment","category-feminist-sociology","category-gender","category-pop-culture","category-sociology","category-uncategorized","tag-bing-crosby","tag-black-lives-matter","tag-david-bowie","tag-feminist-men","tag-gender","tag-holidays","tag-lgbtq","tag-peace","tag-race","tag-transgender"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/feminist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/feminist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/feminist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/feminist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1988"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/feminist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2516"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/feminist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2522,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/feminist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516\/revisions\/2522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/feminist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/feminist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/feminist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}