Blokes Who Can't/don't/won't Sing

[saxy_jag]

I'm trying to get some interest in an office choir at work. Since the office team mostly consists of 40-something male parks officers, tree surgeons and landscape architects this isn't going to be easy and not likely to happen overnight. I think I might be able to work on them at Christmas, however, because the boss usually plays mix tapes in the office throughout December and he's open to song suggestions.

So ... all you blokes who would never be seen dead in a choir robe ... what kind singalong song might you be inclined to join in with? Doesn't matter if it's at football, down the pub, drunken karaoke or whatever - just something you don't feel daft singing.

[Old_Geezer]

Any song/situation where the management thinks I'm singing along as a good team member but where I can hide at the back wondering why I have to endure such inhumane treatment from an employer.

[daffy654]

Do they have to wear robes? I can see that putting most of them off if thats the case.

[woofgang]

maybe they plain old don't want to do it?

[saxy_jag]

No Daffy - I won't make them wear robes. As far as I'm concerned they can wear what they like (although there are more than a few office jokes about wearing mankinis for work). I just want to get them singing.

Geezer, they won't be forced into it so hiding at the back won't be an option.

I'm quite prepared for this to be an eventual no-goer, but I'm not giving up yet.

[Old_Geezer]

They may feel obliged or be seen as not being a team player, with a consequential affect careerwise. Especially if the boss is keen.

If you want to start a glee club why not put a notice on the noticeboard then no one will feel they have to join in ?

[Baldric]

I do not work with anyone I want to sing with!

[woofgang]

saxy_jag with respect, I am so glad I never worked with you. leave the poor b's alone and get on with what you are there for.

[saxy_jag]

It's not that kind of office, Geezer - not one where they have to conform or do stuff in a corporate way and not one where their careers would be affected by what they do or don't participate in at work. It's a parks department. They are outdoors men. They work in combat trousers and t-shirts. They like to have a laugh and they can be quite raucous at times. Some of them play squash, football or go cycling together. They all have hobbies that they talk about and share - painting, gardening, cooking etc. but none of them do anything they don't want to - whether the boss encourages it or not. Some of them occasionally break into song in an unguarded moment and it's something I'd like to encourage, if I can. The 'if I can' is something I can already deal with - I know them well enough to know what is/is not likely to work in terms of getting them on board. If I'd needed help with that then I'd have posted in the Jobs section.
All I'm after right now is a few suggestions for songs I might use to get them interested. That's why I used the music section. I was rather hoping to get some answers from people who can think of songs rather than office politics.

[boxtops]

If you've ever see Gareth Malone doing the workplace choirs programme, it sounds just like what you're planning - non-singing guys and gals joined for a laugh (mostly to giggle at their mates), then amazingly found they liked it.

[ChillDoubt]

Rugby songs (especially Bread Of Heaven) and the odd bit of kara-jokey when I'm suitably imbibed.

[saxy_jag]

Thank you boxtops. This is what I'm trying to encourage. I'm a big fan of Gareth's and it was a conversation with a couple of the work team about this that started me thinking along these lines. It's just a matter of approaching our very unconventional team in the right way, which my boss and a colleague have given me plenty of advice on.

If I started by offering 4-part arrangements of Hey-Nonny-Noh, they'd all run for the hills, so all I'm going offer to begin with is a simple version of something they know and like. But I need ideas as to what that might be.

[ChillDoubt]

Surely no Englishman couldn't fail to be moved by Jerusalem?
Even as a Welshman and atheist I find it very stirring.
Or what about I Vow To Thee My Country?

[ChillDoubt]

Surel ANY Englishman, even....

[boxtops]

I'd start with some familiar stuff (but keep it clean)....

[sandyRoe]

Some of the blokes who won't sing might be doing it( or not doing it) out of consideration for their colleagues eardrums.

[saxy_jag]

Well, Sandy, this is what they tell me. However, I happen to believe that anyone can sing and that those who say they can't simply haven't found their voice/range yet. I've spent nearly all my life thinking I couldn't sing, even though I liked singing. I joined a 'can't sing' choir a couple of years ago, started formal lessons last year, was invited to join a second choir and am now getting ready for my grade 5 exam. So many of my singing friends have similar experiences, so it's not unique to me.

Like I said earlier, I'm not going to push them hard on it (and they're too busy in any case). Just going down the route of gentle encouragement and we'll see what develops. If they only sit at their desks and join in a song together in the office, then that will be progress indeed.

[sandyRoe]

I have a gravelly voice made all the rougher by years of smoking and drinking. I honestly believe I'd be doing all around me a great favour if I didn't try to sing.
But good luck with your project.

[saxy_jag]

Lee Marvin, Telly Savalas, Mick Jagger, Louis Armstrong - didn't do them any harm.

[sandyRoe]

Did Lee Marvin or Telly Savalis sing? As I remember they talked the lyrics.

[DestressTermly]

I'm sorry, but as a 40 something male myself, I can't imagine anything more squirmworthy and I have to question why exactly you want to pour energy into such an unlikely endeavour. There are choirs around - if you want to go to one, then do it YOLO - but why try to inflict it on the office? I do sing or might sing: At karaoke, at a football or rugby match, to the radio, round a camp fire, half drunkenly down the pub, to accompany my half competent strums on the guitar - but joining a choir? with implications about performance and arranging get togethers to practice, with the guys I work with? You are having a laugh.

Invite them all to the local pub's karaoke - along with their wives and girlfriends. Take it from there - but even then be aware that a one off karaoke may get some attendance, but that ain't necessarily meaning that they want a choir. And if there is a lack of interest in pub karaoke, over and beyond the usual level of interest in meting up for drinks down the pub, then I think that gives you your answer. Good luck.