Well, while many of you keep saying how horrible it is, we keep having a rousing good time doing it. It's community singing, a different dynamic from the singing I've experienced in many other places. Last Friday, we hammed it up outrageously on "Hang On the Bell, Nellie," and "Titanic." Mary, who is developmentally disabled, wanted us to sing "Oh, No, John" - and you should have seen the joy and enthusiasm on her face as she sang that song with us (with just the women singing "on, no, John.") During the break, a group of us clustered around Ingrid the German Lady and sang "Die Gedanken Sind Frei" and "Freiheit." Almost every session, we sing "Today" in memory of long-time member Carlos, who died of post-polio syndrome a couple years ago. Yeah, Carlos always chose "Today," and another guy usually chooses "Waltzing With Bears," and another guy used to choose "I Feel Pretty" all the time.
Oh, and this time we did a great job on Woody Guthrie's "Do-re-mi" - usually, we blow that one.
So, I suppose there's some sameness, but there's also something fresh and new every session, even though most of our songs are from the book. So, we have 40 to 50 people show up most months, and we've been doing it for almost 20 years, still with the "blue book."
That can't be all bad.

I'm glad for all the wonderful experiences I've had with folk music in San Francisco and in Washington, DC - but most of the people in our song circle wouldn't fit into the DC or San Francisco groups.

-Joe-