Lose the melody lose the song? It's SILENT NIGHT!

[BruceBrown]

OK somebody help me with this one. I've been listening to some of the Silent Night ideas. Yes they asked for a new twist, but I've been hearing songs with totally new melodies. How can you change the melody to Silent Night? You no longer have the song. Would you sing the lyric to Yesterday and change the melody?
Surely they are looking for unique treatments of the original song(Melody)
Lose the melody lose the song.
Plus if your going to tackle rewriting a melody you might not want to pick one so timeless, beautiful and pure.
Your thoughts?
Bruce

[michael11]

[cardell]

I hear you.

I've done what you're describing on 3 different submissions for this song (with 3 different people). I'm on a Soul version, a Jazz version and even a Hip Hop version.

..and, I'll likely do it with the coming requests for cover versions.

I originally sang the song very straight on Andy's version. My wife heard what I was tracking [recording] and simply said, "That won't get forwarded. You're just singing like everyone else.". I took a break, then tried again with a different attitude...

Just trying to get some forwards here, otherwise I would indeed stick to the melody as written.

Stuart

[DesireInspires]

OK somebody help me with this one. I've been listening to some of the Silent Night ideas. Yes they asked for a new twist, but I've been hearing songs with totally new melodies. How can you change the melody to Silent Night? You no longer have the song. Would you sing the lyric to Yesterday and change the melody?
Surely they are looking for unique treatments of the original song(Melody)
Lose the melody lose the song.
Plus if your going to tackle rewriting a melody you might not want to pick one so timeless, beautiful and pure.
Your thoughts?
Bruce

Stop being a diva and experiment!

Silent Night is a public domain song. You can create a plethora of derivative works. I even created a House version of Silent Night. Why? Because it was fun!

Stop being a diva and experiment!

[cardell]

Stop being a diva and experiment!

Silent Night is a public domain song. You can create a plethora of derivative works. I even created a House version of Silent Night. Why? Because it was fun!

Stop being a diva and experiment!

...well, I was being a little more diplomatic about it, but I share this sentiment.

DI is the guy I did the Hip Hop version with.

Stuart

[RonKujawa]

Hmmmm... I would be one of those that changed the melody quite a bit in my version. I get your point, but I disagree with it completely. To me, there is nothing sacred about the melody to an old song.

The Psalms were songs written hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. Christian artists regularly use them in modern songs. I think it's fantastic. It helps connect a timeless message with the present day.

I have enjoyed listening to the creative takes from other TAXI members, and I had an absolute blast doing mine.

To be clear, I'm not offended by your opinion, Bruce. It's just that I couldn't disagree with it more.

And yes, I would sing the lyric to Yesterday and change the melody if I thought it was creating something new and valuable. I wouldn't do it just to do it though.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Ron

[BruceBrown]

DI,
Name calling, really. Not very nice. What I wrote makes me a Diva?
I plan on submitting to this listing and I'm sure I'll do my share of experimenting in hopes of finding my own take on the tune.
The challenge for me will be making a unique track while retaining the songs melody.
I'll be doing an instrumental so if I don't state the melody know one will know what song it is.
Call me a Diva if it makes you feel better, but I stand buy what I said.
Nobody whistles the drum part.
Bruce

[BruceBrown]

Ron,
Very fair. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. For me the original melody to any song young or old is the essence of the song.
Do Silent Night reggae, heavy metal, blues and yes DI and Stuart hip hop, experiment and yes have fun, but do it with the songs melody.
Look at it this way, if you take away the lyric to your versions and just hum it will any one recognize it as Silent Night without saying the lyric Silent Night.
if the answer is no doesn't that support my case,
Dancing shoes, dancing shoes, dancing up and down.
That's Jingle Bells in case you didn't recognize it. I took some liberties with the lyric. That's ok right?
Bruce

[CrimsnSyrn]

I have to agree with Bruce. I believe you can take some liberties with slight variations to the melody or timing (i.e. what Stuart did with Andy Gabrys) - to me that works. However, completely changing not only the melody but the underlying chords makes it quite a different song, IMHO.

I also agree that with something as classic as Silent Night the melody needs to be recognizable. Of course, this is JMHO!!!

Good Luck to all!

Juliet

[mazz]

If no one listening can tell that it's Silent Night, then it really isn't Silent Night. It's one thing to sing those very familiar lyrics and interpret the melody because listeners will still know its Silent Night. But an instrumental version still needs the melody to be recognizable, otherwise it's not the song any longer.

It's going to be a challenge to pull this off and maintain the integrity and recognizability while being tasteful and avoiding being overly clever and campy.