Three Young Song-Birds

By Jack Lowe © 1995

Issue: Winter, 1995

First let me start off by saying that I am tone deaf. I cannot sing a note. When I was about twelve or thirteen years old, I had two friends about my age. One was named Paul and the other one was Pete. We were very close and if one of us did something, the other two was in on it too.

The three of us went to Sunday School every Sunday at a neighborhood church. One Sunday the Pastor asked my two friends if they would sing a song the next Sunday at the eleven o'clock service at our sister church, across town. They wouldn't do it, unless I joined them and made it a trio.

Paul's voice had changed and he sang bass. Pete sang alto and I couldn't sing anything. The next Sunday we were at church, right on time. Before the pastor started his sermon, he told the congregation that they were lucky to have a trio of young men that would sing a hymn for them.

When we stood up before the large crowd, I was so nervous that I was shaking out of my skin. We started out on the hymn, "Love Lifted Me," and I couldn't utter a sound. While my buddies were singing their hearts out, I was standing like a mime, acting like I was singing by mouthing the words, but not saying a word.

Finally it was over and we went to our seats. The Pastor thanked us and said he hoped we would visit them again.

Needless to say, that was our first and last performance. We never got invited to sing anywhere else again.