Classic Christmas Tune "The Little Drummer Boy" Boasts a Fuzzy Origin Story
Among the sea of classic Christmas songs is "The Little Drummer Boy," which sees a boy bang on his drum in party of child Jesus. Was he actual?
As we adorn our trees with gaudy little ornaments and wrap presents for our family members, it is comforting to set the tone for the crisp-yet-warm vacation season with tune. From 1944's now-controversial "Baby It's Cold Outside" (which used to be to start with written as a cheeky invitation to go away, to not keep) to 1994's super festive tune "All I Want for Christmas Is You," there's an abundance of catchy tracks synonymous with the vacations.
On a more somber notice, "The Little Drummer Boy" has stuffed our thumping hearts with the sound of a beating drum since 1941. Originally written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis ‚— who published below the named C.R.W. Robertson — as "Carol of the Drum," the song sees a poor younger boy visit Jesus Christ on his very first birthday, bearing the reward of music.
"Little baby / Pa rum pum pum-pum / I am a poor boy too / Pa rum pum pum-pum / I have no gift to bring / Pa rum pum pum-pum / That's fit to give our King / Pa rum pum pum-pum," the lyrics move. Though the smart males come bearing material pieces, with the Virgin Mary's permission, the boy performs his easiest for the biblical new child.
With his mighty drum, his uplifting spirit, and his humble generosity, the Little Drummer Boy is a cherished Christmas determine. So, is he a work of fiction, or was the little guy real?
Was "The Little Drummer Boy" in keeping with a actual individual?
As a preface, we have to discuss the muddy origins of the tune.
According to Classic FM, "The Little Drummer Boy" was to start with described as "a Czech carol freely transcribed by C.R.W. Robertson." The plot thickens, alternatively, as musicologist Claire Fontijn believes that Katherine Kennicott Davis based her tune on the French Christmas carol "Patapan."
“[One day], when she was looking to take a nap, she used to be obsessive about this track that got here into her head and it was supposed to had been impressed by means of a French music, ‘Patapan,’” explained Claire Fontijn, per Wellesley College. “And then ‘patapan’ translated in her mind to ‘pa-rum-pum-pum,’ and it took on a rhythm.”
The St. Joseph News-Press also touched on the controversy surrounding the music's origins, letting Suzanne Lehr, a St. Joseph Museum research associate, explain the battle away.
“There was some query as to how unique it was once, as it’s carefully related to an old Czech lullaby, and yet it’s no longer the identical,” she mentioned. “[Katherine Kennicott Davis] says, and has all the time said, that the music for this came to her as she used to be drifting off to take a nap.”
Either way, there is no proof to signify that the star of "The Little Drummer Boy" is based in fact. Biblically talking, day-to-day devotional Our Daily Bread even relayed that "there isn’t any reference to a drummer boy in the Christmas story in Matthew 1–2 and Luke 2."
Symbolically speaking, as detailed by Classic FM, the little guy's resilience, dedication, and strength may also be attached to the brave, unarmed drummer boys of the U.S. Civil War, who drummed on the battlefield to keep time and provide a tempo for the marching squaddies. At the same time, "The Little Drummer Boy" is a non violent tune void of war, so in all probability this is a stretch.
Eight many years later, the calming "pa rum pum pum-pums" of "The Little Drummer Boy" nonetheless fill houses once a year. Whether you experience the 1951 version by means of the Trapp Family, the 1963 version by way of Johnny Cash, and even the 2011 version by way of Justin Bieber, you surely concentrate to the music every Christmas.
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