Among the poetry, lip-syncing and cowboi routines of Aberration’s talent show (that’s Aberystwyth’s finest queer night), a man stands up and says he want us all to sing a song. It only has two lines; once we have mastered it, he says quietly but confidently, we will do it in the round.
This is quite a departure from the lineup and there is a moment’s hesitation from the audience. Then he gets out one of those little mouth organs that gives you the key, sings the lines and off we go.
The words are simple: “I believe that one fine day / The power of love will rise above the love of power.” Gamely, we sing; a packed bar, with folk down from the hills and along the coast, all of us together, despite the fact that most of us can’t reach “the love of power” in the right register. And you know what? It’s really something, all these voices.
As we go round and round, we grow more confident. I love it. I have never been able to sing in tune; you will never find me doing karaoke or singing aloud, except in these moments when I can hide behind many other voices. What a thing it is to try to sing in unison, to become something bigger than yourself.
A few weeks later, at the Heddwch ar Waith (Peace Action Wales) gathering in town, the deputy mayor reads out a letter to the US and UK parliaments asking for a ceasefire in Gaza. Some women sing “Shalom, Salaam, Heddwch” in a three-part harmony, over and over again, as a crowd gathers and people light candles. There are only a handful of them, yet their high, thin voices rise above the traffic – not loud exactly, but so powerful.
It is almost too much. When I turn around to look at my wife, I find her weeping silently, her eyes huge as she tries to stay composed. I understand then that it is not about whether or not you are in tune – it is about using your voice in whatever way you can.
• Alys Fowler is a gardener and freelance writer
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