Of all the cultural signs that usher in the Christmas season — twinkling lights, abundant decorations and a general air of childlike anticipation — none are quite so revered as the annual return of Christmas music. No other holiday is as intrinsically connected to its sometimes catchy, often beautiful and — depending on who you ask — debatably overplayed music as it is at Christmastime.
Christmas music is really a genre all its own, and within it, there is something for everyone. Some prefer the traditional hymns, while others are partial to the more mainstream, pop influenced songs. No matter which way you unwrap it, though, several Christmas classics define the Christmas season and serve to remind us of the true reason for the season.
One such classic is a relatively recent Christmas carol, which, at first glance, seems a bit out of place in the great pantheon of Christmas carols. After all, what does a little boy, his drum and a consistent refrain of pa rum pum pum pum have to do with Christmas?
“The Little Drummer Boy” has always been my favorite of the classic Christmas carols for a few reasons. I always felt a kindred connection to the boy in the song because I myself am a drummer. Beyond that, the simple melody is very hard to forget, making it an easy song to sing, hum or, indeed, drum along with.
At surface level, the song seems plain enough, but look a little deeper, and its richness begins to reveal itself.
First, though, a little history about the origins of the carol. The timeless tune was written and composed by Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941 and first recorded a decade later by the Austrian von Trapp Family in 1951. Originally titled the “Carol of the Drums,” it has remained very close to Davis’ original composition over the decades since its creation.
Why a drummer? Historically, drummers have played integral roles in battlefield settings, signaling to the soldiers certain commands long before radio communication existed. Against the backdrop of World War II, during which Davis composed the song, a song about a drummer would not have seemed too far out of place.
The song tells the solemn tale of an unnamed boy and his trusty drum. “The words practically wrote themselves,” Davis once recalled of the humble yet heartfelt lyrics she penned about this boy. Summoned to meet a newborn king born in a manger and present a gift to him, the boy tells the baby, “I am a poor boy, too,” and has “no gift to bring that’s fit to give a king.” So, he asks, “Shall I play for you on my drum?”
It is here that the song takes a more hopeful turn. As the lyrics tell us, Mary nods, and the little drummer boy offers the only thing he has to the newborn king: himself and the gift of his drum. In this moment, it’s easy to imagine that everything else falls away, leaving only the boy and the Holy Family alone in the manger as he plays his drum in worship and reverence of the Christ-child.
This brings me to the third and most important reason “The Little Drummer Boy” is my favorite Christmas carol. As the little drummer boy plays on his drum, he tells the listener of the baby’s reaction: “Then he smiled at me.” A seemingly simple line, but one that carries in it a whole universe of meaning. One can imagine the pride, joy and peace that the little drummer boy felt at that smile so divine. He knew that his travels had not been for naught; he knew that as humble as it was, his gift mattered to the newborn king. More than that, though, that little smile indicated that he mattered to the newborn king.
We can all find ourselves in the story of “The Little Drummer Boy” as we present our gifts to the Lord at Christmastime in preparation to receive his coming. No matter how big or small our gifts may be, we can rest assured that, in his eyes, we matter more than we could ever imagine. This theme is present in the story of the Nativity itself because, while that little child who was born of a virgin may not have mattered to the world passing by around him, the reality is that child mattered more than anything else in the history of the world. He mattered so much that he, in turn, made everyone else matter as much as him.
Like the little drummer boy, we, too, are poor. There is no gift we could ever offer that would do justice to the gift that Jesus gives us in himself. All the little drummer boy had to offer was his drum and himself. In this sense, his drum could represent a gift of self, the little drummer boy’s giving of his heart to the Christ-child. It’s fitting, considering that both a drum and a heart “beat.” In his performance for the Holy Family, the little drummer boy presents his heart at the foot of the manger and gives Jesus exactly what he wants from us at Christmas, and really, for all eternity — our heart.
Why? Because we matter to him. So, next time you hear “The Little Drummer Boy,” let the pa rum pum pum pum of his drum echo the beating of your own heart for Christ and receive the smile that the baby in the manger beams your way.
Comments