Friends! Romans! Countrymen! Today is International Friendship Day.
The holiday (which started in Paraguay in 1958) is pretty self-explanatory. It honors those who listen, help and care for us. It honors those we trust, those we eat and laugh with our chosen family.
So let us raise our voices to honor our friends, wherever they may be.
Option A: Far. Think of a friend who is far away. Maybe someone you haven’t seen for a while, but who means a lot to you. Press record and sing to them. It might come out as a greeting, or thanks, or longing, or humor, or something else. Could involve words, or just syllables or tones. Just keep singing to your friend until you’ve said what you need to say.
Option B: Near. Find a moment this weekend when you’ll be in the company of a friend. Might be an old friend, or a new friend; doesn’t really matter who it is, as long as they are friendly. Ask permission to sing a song for them (most people really enjoy this, I’ve found). Press record on your phone (perhaps using a free app that uploads directly to SoundCloud like VoiceRecordPro), and start singing. An anthem of loyalty, a tribute to their beauty, a teasing sing-song; whatever! Chances are that, by the end, they’ll have joined you.
To Contribute
The steps are as follows:
- Step 0: Sign up for a free SoundCloud account here. Join the SSS group.
- Step 1: Record yourself singing.
- Step 2: Upload to SoundCloud and post the track to the SSS group.
- Step 3: Listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow singers. (Play nice!)
Deadline: Your tracks should be uploaded by midnight wherever you are on Monday, August 3, 2015.
Length: The length of your finished work should be about the time it takes to catch up with an old friend.
Description: It would be awesome to include a short description of where and when you sang your piece.
Title/Tag: When uploading to SoundCloud, put “[sss-friend]” in the title of your track. Also include the term “sss-friend” as a tag. This will help us find it.
Group: Once the track is uploaded, click on the “Add to group” button below the waveform and make sure to select the Society for Spontaneous Singing group. (This option will only appear if you have already joined the group! So do that now.)
Linking: You are welcome to include this info in your description:
This track is a reply to “SSS Prompt 27: Sing for a friend.”More on the Society for Spontaneous Singing at http://singthis.org .
Thank you, sweet singers!