Adoring the Infant King: Song #19 "Carol of the Birds" aka "Curroo, Curroo"

 Adoring the Infant King

Song #19: "Carol of the Birds" aka "Curroo, Curroo"

This is another carol of the birds, but a completely different one than the song I posted yesterday. I found it in an old music book at my inlaws' house, so it must have belonged to my sister in law Emily while she was studying voice as a teenager. 

I like this song because I get to rrrrrrrrrrroll my r's in order to imitate the birds. I take a lot of pride in my rolled r's since I taught myself how to do it at 19 years old. I knew I needed to learn how in order to sing in a foreign language, but according to Dr Power, who at the time was the head of the University of Utah vocal department, the only people he knew who'd learned to roll their r's as adults were those who'd lived for a prolonged period of time in another country, like missionaries. He told me it was something you have to hear regularly for your brain to process how to make the sound. 

Turns out that's not the only way to learn. At 18 I could flip a single r, which had taken me 4 years of singing in foreign languages to figure out. I flipped that single r over and over under my breath, sometimes with a "d" or "t" in front of it, as much as possible all day long for months (it may or may not have really annoyed my roommate Amy who slept in the bunk bed above me). The summer after my first year in college it finally clicked. One day I did a two second roll. I couldn't repeat it, so I was a bit worried it was just a fluke, but the next day I was able to do a few more. Within a week I could roll until I ran out of breath. At first I could only do it with my retainer in. That was the year I wore my retainer regularly since I'd just had my braces removed, so my mouth was simply used to making the rolled r with the retainer in. My voice teacher encouraged me to take it out while I sang, and within a few weeks I could do it without the retainer too. I am proof that this is a skill that can be self-taught. I figured it out by goofing around and doing as much as I could with vast amounts of repetition.

Oscar teases me when I sing this song. He says he can't help it since I sound so much like a pigeon. He was actually there during this recording because we'd recorded "Mary Did You Know?" that same day. On the first take he flapped his arms pretending to be a bird. I cracked up and had to start over. He had to hide his face away and suppress his goofball instincts during this recording. You can see I already have a giant smile on my face at the beginning just from having laughed at him the first time. 

Lyrics:

Oh a many a bird did wake and fly Curoo curoo curoo. Oh a many a bird did wake and fly to the manger bed with a wandering cry on Christmas day in the morning

The lark the dove and the red bird came Curoo curoo curoo. The lark the dove and the red bird came and they did sing in sweet Jesus' name on Christmas day in the morning

The owl was there with eyes so wide Curoo curoo curoo The owl was there with eyes so wide And he did sit at sweet Mary's side on Christmas day in the morning

The shepherds knelt upon the hay Curoo curoo curoo The shepherds knelt upon the hay And angels sang the night away n Christmas day in the morning Curoo curoo curoo. Curoo curoo curoo.