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Paul Nelson, KSL NewsradioIt's been a valued Christmas tradition for generations, but is caroling slowly going away?
Some analysts say very few people are still doing it.
Christmas carols sure sound beautiful, don't they? I'm inspired. Let's go caroling. Who's with me? Anyone? Anyone want to go caroling? Hello? Apparently, people are losing interest.
Brady Allred said, "It's sort of a global problem because we have the same kinds of difficulties with music training overall."
It's a trend that's been going on for a while. The National Christmas Tree Association says only 6 percent of people they surveyed in 2005 planned to go caroling. That's down from 22 percent in 1996. As a man who makes his living singing, Salt Lake Choral Artists Artistic Director Brady Allredm says he's a little disappointed.
"Nowadays there are just so many other things that people want to do," he said.
Allred says some people are fed up with Christmas music in general because it's getting, dare I say, overplayed.
"People are bombarded with it for almost two months, and, you know, they're the same songs that they hear over and over in lots of different arrangements," he said.
I asked some people in Salt Lake City how long it has been since they went caroling. Some people say they haven't gone in a couple decades. Some singers weren't received well by the people they sang to.
One man said, "[They were] kind of uncomfortable."
"Really? You made people uncomfortable with your singing?" I asked.
He responded, "I'm sure I did."
"That's unfortunate, sir," I told him.
Others say they have young kids that prevent them from caroling.
One woman said, "They're too young right now to take them out in the cold, I think." Her husband responded by saying, "They can't carry a tune, either."
Others say it's no fun to go out caroling by yourself.
One woman said, "[I] don't really have a group to go with anymore."
Even the people I spoke with who do like to go caroling say if they don't go, they won't miss it at all. Perhaps this tradition truly is dying.
