There oughta be a law...

[pat]

... against vocalists attempting songs which are beyond their vocal abilities or emotional maturity level.


I am not a traditionalist when it comes to holiday music: I like all sorts, and I don't mind "contemporary" versions. That said...

Avril Lavigne covered "O Holy Night." **shudder**

(In the spirit of open mindedness, I actually, listened to about 30 seconds of it on iTunes.)

Comments

[faeryguinevere.livejournal.com]

I rejected that one on iTunes too - for the same reason.

[http://users.livejournal.com/sunyata__/]

Oh goodness. I need to hunt that down.

[geekchick]

It's not *that* bad. I have it because it was on "A Winter's Night" and it was cheaper to buy the whole thing. If it helps, it's a duet with Chantal Kreviazuk, it's not just Avril. If I'm being honest though, Chantal does a better job than she does.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Probably if I listened to it I'd be shuddering too. Even without your challenges of this week. But to be fair, I offer the following.

To me, the "right" version of O Holy Night is sung by a boy soprano with a clear young voice. I don't really have an emotional or spiritual maturity expectation for O Holy Night, the way I do for, say, Amazing Grace. Averil Lavigne started singing in church, as a junior choir member and a soloist. In that capacity, it would not surprise me if she had been singing O Holy Night as a solo in public ten years ago.

I do tend to get irritated when someone attempts to "interpret" that song by putting in expressive phrasing, any body language at all, adjustments of timing, or extra showoffy notes. And since she does that stuff in her other songs, I guess I wouldn't be surprised if her O Holy Night bothered me for those reasons.

[king-tirian.livejournal.com]

Haven't found Avril's version. In her stead, I'll be lecturing Jessica Simpson, who I am enduring at this particular moment.

I'm of two minds. The first is that everyone in Christendom should sing O Holy Night -- it should be the national anthem of the Church Universal. The second is that everyone, when they're singing it, needs to recognize that attempting to "own" something that was given for the glorification of the Lord doesn't usually work out. If you have the proper talents to sing, then the song sings itself -- just try to stay out of its way.

To me, Josh Groban owns the song. He doesn't sing any notes that aren't there, and he includes the second verse that I like even though there are a few lines that for whatever historical reason don't scan at all. Although I must confess to a fondness for the version done by Eric Cartman in which Kyle stuck him with a cattle prod every time he got a word wrong.

[runeshower.livejournal.com]

"O Holy Night" has got to be one of the most difficult singing challenges. Also one of the most beautiful carols. :-)

I can't quite imagine Avril Lavigne's version. :-/