There's nothing like singing in the morning for lifting the spirits. Anyone who has sung in the shower will know this. I therefore propose that one carriage on every London Underground train during rush hour should have organised singing, led by students from the Royal College of Music (who will be given free travel passes as payment).
For some reason I think of hymns when I imagine this idea. Wouldn't it be great, a crowded tube carriage rattling through the tunnels with 300 voices belting out "Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer" or "Who Who Would True Valour See" or "Jerusalem"?
-- hippo, Apr 27 2002

this is wonderful, hippo. the reason why singing is so uplifting is of course the added oxygen to the brain.
-- po, Apr 27 2002


I was on a train once with a guitar. A man asked if he could borrow it and started playing, within a few minutes he had the whole carriage singing Bye bye Miss American Pie.

As it happens that was the same day I scored my first kiss but that's another story.
-- Helium, Apr 27 2002


Oh yes, and Christmas Carols during December. "Silent Night" when the train is halted in a dark tunnel deep underground and all the lights go out (Note to non-London folk: This does happen), "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" when the train is zooming along.
-- hippo, Apr 28 2002


that - "...............to be a pilgrim " is my favourite, cannot ever remember its proper title.
-- po, Apr 28 2002


He who would valiant be ’gainst all disaster, Let him in constancy follow the Master. There’s no discouragement shall make him once relent His first avowed intent to be a pilgrim.

yes, Bunyan. thank you UB.
-- po, Apr 28 2002


That was a memorable day, Aye Helium?
-- thumbwax, Apr 28 2002


The only time I ever hear singing on the subway is when I am going to watch (Glasgow) Rangers play. In this circumstance I am serenaded by Buckie-fueled football 'fan' bigots chanting sectarian bile at the top of their voices. This idea may well help dispel this problem (unless the students are bigots, too). For Glaswegian application, the musicians should avoid anything with religious overtones and stick to the works of The Proclaimers and Jimmy Shand (provided every commuter is given a piano accordion on boarding).
-- calum, Apr 28 2002


How could I have missed out Bohemian Rhapsody? Imagine joining in with the rest of your train carriage with a stirring rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody...

But I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me ("Mind the Gap")
He's just a poor boy from a poor family ("Stand clear of the doors please!")
Spare him his life from this monstrosity ("mmmmmmm-clunk")
Easy come easy go - will you let me go (<noise of electric motor, rising in pitch>)
Bismillah! No - we will not let you go - let him go (<rumble, clatter>)
Bismillah! We will not let you go - let him go (<clatter, rumble>)
Bismillah! We will not let you go - let me go (<rumble, clatter>)
Will not let you go - let me go (never) (<clatter, rumble>)
Never let you go - let me go (<rumble, clatter>)
Never let me go - ooo
No, no, no, no, no, no, no - ("The next stop will be Westminsster")
Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go ("Change at Westminster for the Jubilee line")
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me (<noise of electric motor, descending in pitch>)
for me
for me ("Tshhhh - mmmmmm-clunk")

-- hippo, Jun 05 2002


He who would valiant be
'gainst all disaster,
let him in constancy
follow the Master.
There's no discouragement
shall make him once relent
his first avowed intent
to be a pilgrim.

Who so beset him round
with dismal stories
do but themselves confound
his strength the more is.
No foes shall stay his might;
though he with giants fight,
he will make good his right
to be a pilgrim.

Since, Lord, thou dost defend
us with thy Spirit,
We know we at the end,
shall life inherit.
then fancies flee away!
I'll fear not what men say,
I'll labor night and day
to be a pilgrim.
-- po, Sep 22 2003


Yep. That's a good stirring one. That and "Jerusalem".

Oh. You said that one.
-- squeak, Sep 22 2003


i love the idea of a more interactive atmosphere on commuting trains, but i think that if you want to make this project feasible you must take into accout issues of privacy and stress. there are certainly more subtle ways of bonding and lifting the spirits, and i find it particularly irritating when people talk too loud or do not respect others in the same carriage. Call it British, but i also think that the highly streessful situation of getting to work would not go well with the state of being that you suggest. But apart from that, it is time that the commuting environment was seriously revisited.
-- janet2, Nov 25 2003


//there are certainly more subtle ways of bonding and lifting the spirits// what do you suggest Janet2?
-- po, Nov 25 2003


you can just start from few more private suggestions. have a carriage radio/mixer that reacts to people's movements and actions through heat sensors and piezo/pressure pads. without needing to embarass yourself if you don't feel like singing, you could contribute to the on board groove, and also maybe switch it off by standing in the right place, where there is a big "on/off" sign on the floor (motion sensor just above it)
-- janet2, Nov 25 2003



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