When we sing together Deborah Sloan looks at the power of collective singing.
H
ave you ever heard of James B. Partridge? No, neither had I until he started popping up everywhere. He’s become a bit of a phenomenon over the last year, appearing on BBC’s Breakfast and The One Show. He’s featured in The Times, been discussed at length on ITV’s This Morning and Loose Women and performed at Glastonbury. He’s all over social media. But it wasn’t until I saw an article in the online Christian magazine Seen & Unseen that I began to pay attention to what James was doing. ‘Sing it out with James Partridge’s joyous assembly. Bad days get better when we sing together’ was its title.
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Natalie Garrett, who wrote the of his pupils and their parents. He article, had gone along to one of James’ began posting videos on YouTube for sellout shows on his ‘Primary School them to sing along to. But it was when Assembly Bangers’ tour to see what all he shared what he called his ‘Top 10 the fuss was about. At this concert, she Assembly Songs’ on TikTok that things had joined with hundreds of others, went viral. Having hosted singalong “belting out the words” to some welllivestreams during the lockdowns, loved classics like This Little Light of James then decided to continue these Mine, Give Me Oil in My Lamp and in a real-world context. He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands. There’s no doubt James is tapping The idea for the shows had come into something, but is it just the about during opportunity the pandemic to indulge in a We are regularly when James, a wistful throwback primary school reminded that as we sing, to the ‘80s and teacher, wanted Or is it we join with the choirs of ‘90s? to bring some something more? joy into the lives heaven. When he asked
