Dear Little Drummer Boy

Drummer boy, you are the subject of one of my childhood’s favorite songs, but I only got to understand your importance later in life. I had always wanted you to be a real person that could add proof to what you represented, as many things though, the meaning behind the character signifies more than just the “person”.

When I was a child, your place in history alongside three wise men showed that the separation in possessions and stature was small and that the intention was more precious and valuable than riches. These three wise men that “travelled so far”, carried valuable gifts, which at the time, were priceless even. It was the most of which they could find to show their appreciation and anticipation of what was about to happen and who was about to be born. They offered what they felt was most valuable and sacrificed their time and efforts to get them to the unborn child. 

But there was you, all but a poor boy, a peasant who had nothing, barely dressed to present himself and offering the only thing he had – his talent. All he had to offer was something worth nothing materialistically, but yet as valuable as what the wise men offered.

I have always understood that, always found it so profound that it was so very accepted that a God-given talent meant so much to the people there in attendance, with apparently even baby Jesus smiling back. Now, I now know it is a fictional story, but what a wonderful thing to instill in us as children to know that we are all capable of offering what we can, especially as it’s the thought that counts. From an early age, most of us feel we can give what we can and expect that people have their heartstrings pulled while they accept it.

For me, I carried that always to the point that I managed to do that for a living, using my God-given talent to play music for people – it’s the best of what I can do and give to people. It is ironically linked to the Little Drummer Boy by music. I have also seen a more complex layer to this in that your value will always be what people place on it – some value it far more than others. In your movie, you were but a beggar child in a sea of people who did not regard it as much of value. Your same talent there that pleased the Lord, Mary and Joseph meant nothing to the other townsfolk as they walked by you as if nothing was special. We see that so many times in videos, one recently where Joshua Bell, one of the world’s most famous violinists played in New York’s subway making under $30, but 2 nights earlier was playing at Boston’s Symphony Hall where people paid hundreds, even thousands of dollars to hear him. 

Your talent meant the most to who appreciated it the most, to who saw the sheer act of giving what you could. For that, I learned early on that my value would always appeal to some, never all, and I learned to accept that. As musicians, we all want to please everybody and that carries in our lives as well, but we simply can’t, and that lesson was conveyed in your movie.

So, to that, I thank you for existing, if only even fictionally in a story. I do not know your name, I wish I did have a name to put to you, I know that you were young, you were small, but your talent was huge. 

Your song sung by so many, one of the most memorable and catchy Christmas Carol, one that children would sing in schools, quite possibly their favorite after Rudolph, Frosty and Jingle Bells. The song which preceded the 1968 animated movie, was first written in 1941 by Katherine Kennicott Davis who sourced the story from a Czech carol or a 12th-century French legend retold as Le Jongleur de Notre Dame (Our Lady’s Juggler). It was first recorded by the Trapp Family Singers in 1955, then popularized by the Harry Simeone Chorale in 1958, but one of the most memorable versions was with a near improbable live 1977 duet with David Bowie and Bing Crosby together for a rendition known as “Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy” on Bing Crosby’s Christmas Television Special, showing that old meeting new had common ground in the message. And in today’s world, it’s incredible how it still resonates. Yes, it clearly has religious connections, but the message radiates with people of different faith. 

I have passed this onto my children and instilled the understanding into them that using what talents you have to give to people will always make them appreciate it more. They also love your story, they love the animation for its time and the song. They inquisitively ask why people didn’t see your value earlier, wanting everyone to have treated you well, then ask me if I have ever faced those same differences. What a wonderful way to teach them a valuable life lesson. 

You turned out to not exist in real life, not even a mention of you in the bible, but you do in my mind and my thinking – thank you.  

Reno Silva/MS