[Balin] Once more, with feeling

[Balin]

Why does a man who does not have a good voice and does not like to sing suddenly break into song multiple times in front of dozens of people?

[WiZ]

Is he compelled to do this? Is this work related? Hobby related? Does he sing for the same people? Is it the same location? Is it the same song? Does he care if people like the song? Listen carefully to the song? Is he trying to provide a distraction? Are they (relevantly) Christmas songs?

[Balin]

Is he compelled to do this? No Is this work related? Yes Hobby related? No Does he sing for the same people? Yes Is it the same location? Yes Is it the same song? Yes Does he care if people like the song? No Listen carefully to the song? No Is he trying to provide a distraction? Yope Are they (relevantly) Christmas songs? No (and it is relevantly not a Christmas song)

[Hobbsicle]

Do the people expect him to sing? Does his boss expect him to sing (assuming he has a boss)? Does he expect them to sing with him? Is he trying to capture their attention? Would it work the same to just recite Shakespeare loudly? Or is music particularly relevant?

[GalFisk]

Does he want to sing? Is he singing into any relevant device? If so, an electronic device? Does he sing an entire song? Does he sing the same thing every time? Is he doing anything relevant in addition to singing?

[Earnest]

Did he sing in the place where he worked? During office hours? Did he sing for his colleagues? For clients? Was it Christmas time?
Did people expect a song in general? Was the people gathered together for the same purpose? A show? Did he took time? Did he want people to join him? Were his songs accompanied by instruments somehow? Karaoke relevant? Is a joke involved here? A game? Like everyone in the room was supposed to sing a word of a song each?

Did something go wrong in a machinery? I imagine something like a song was supposed to start (e.g. it was performed a musical in which the "evil" was against Christmas) but a stereo did not work. Or again he was the director of an orchestra or a guest on a party where there was music and suddenly the music stopped like inviting him to sing along. So it would have been more embarrassing for him not to sing rather than doing it.

[Balin]

Do the people expect him to sing? No Does his boss expect him to sing No (assuming he has a boss)? He does Does he expect them to sing with him? Yes Is he trying to capture their attention? Yope Would it work the same to just recite Shakespeare loudly? No Or is music particularly relevant? Yes, the one song

Does he want to sing? Yes, but he would rather not (that is not a contradiction) Is he singing into any relevant device? No If so, an electronic device? So no Does he sing an entire song? Yes Does he sing the same thing every time? Yes Is he doing anything relevant in addition to singing? Yope

Did he sing in the place where he worked? Yes During office hours? Yope, FA Did he sing for his colleagues? Yope For clients? No Was it Christmas time? No/Irrel
Did people expect a song in general? No Was the people gathered together for the same purpose? Yes A show? No Did he took time? Yes Did he want people to join him? Yes Were his songs accompanied by instruments somehow? No Karaoke relevant? No Is a joke involved here? No A game? No Like everyone in the room was supposed to sing a word of a song each? No

Did something go wrong in a machinery? No I imagine something like a song was supposed to start (e.g. it was performed a musical in which the "evil" was against Christmas) but a stereo did not work. Ha! But No. Or again he was the director of an orchestra or a guest on a party where there was music and suddenly the music stopped like inviting him to sing along. So it would have been more embarrassing for him not to sing rather than doing it. Not this either

[GalFisk]

Does he want to hear the others sing? Does he want someone else to hear them sing? Are the lyrics of the song relevant? Does he want the sound of singing to drown out some other sound? Distract from some other sound? Distract from something else? Do the others want to sing? Do they share his motivation for singing? Do they know his motivation for singing? If not, would there be a problem if they did know? Are they H? A? M? Does he work outside?

[Earnest]

Did he work with music? Sounds? In a radio?

[Balin]

Does he want to hear the others sing? No Does he want someone else to hear them sing? No Are the lyrics of the song relevant? No Does he want the sound of singing to drown out some other sound? No Distract from some other sound? No Distract from something else? Yes
Do the others want to sing? Not initially, see next Do they share his motivation for singing? Not initially, see next Do they know his motivation for singing? Not initially. Those who later understood his motivation probably wanted to sing. However, there is one person who would NOT want to sing under these circumstances If not, would there be a problem if they did know? No Are they H? A? M? Yes Does he work outside? Part of the time, possible FA

Did he work with music? Sounds? In a radio? No to all

[Hobbsicle]

Are they in danger of some kind? Is he doing this for his benefit? For their benefit? For a particular person's benefit? Are animals involved? Children? Is he trying to control morale in some way (e.g. lighten the mood, alleviate fear, etc.)?

Is it a specific song? Happy birthday? A pop song? A religious song? Children's song? An otherwise well-known song?

[Balin]

Are they in danger of some kind? No Is he doing this for his benefit? Yes For their benefit? Yes For a particular person's benefit? See prev
Are animals involved? Children? No to both
Is he trying to control morale in some way I'd say Yes (e.g. lighten the mood, alleviate fear, etc.)? But I wouldn't call it either of these specifically

Is it a specific song? Yes Happy birthday? A pop song? A religious song? Children's song? An otherwise well-known song? No to all

[MiserableLie]

Is he in the military? If so: army? Air force? Navy?

Is he singing in front of subordinates?

Is his job/nature of his work relevant?

Is the song meant to provide motivation? To calm a tense situation? To settle a dispute?

[Balin]

Is he in the military? Yes! If so: army? Air force? Navy? I believe Navy, but I can't remember. (This is a true story, by the way.) What I do remember is that he is in military school during the course of the puzzle.

Is he singing in front of subordinates? No

Is his job/nature of his work relevant? See above

Is the song meant to provide motivation? To calm a tense situation? To settle a dispute? No to all

[irishelk]

Is he a student (i.e., military recruit)? Teacher? Are the others gathered around students? Teachers?

So the specific song is relevant, but not the lyrics of it...does he sing it because of its length? Because everyone will want to, or feel obliged to, sing along? Is something about its structure/notes particularly good at distracting from the something else?

Does he not want them to see something? Hear something? Know/realize something? Is he distracting from an event that is going on? Something that just happened? Something he said? Or did?

Are they inside? Outside? In dormitories? A classroom? Relevant? Is this during a class? An exercise/drill? War games? Oh--is he a drill instructor, singing to keep the beat as recruits march?

[MiserableLie]

Is the country where this takes place relevant? Is a national anthem relevant? Some military-related song? A wartime propaganda song? Something otherwise patriotic?

[Balin]

Is he a student (i.e., military recruit)? Yes Teacher?
Are the others gathered around students? All but... Teachers? ...one

So the specific song is relevant, but not the lyrics of it...does he sing it because of its length? No Because everyone will want to, or feel obliged to, sing along? Yes, keep going... Is something about its structure/notes particularly good at distracting from the something else? No

Does he not want them to see something? Hear something? Know/realize something? No to all Is he distracting from an event that is going on? Yope Something that just happened? Something he said? Or did? No to these

Are they inside? Outside? This In dormitories? A classroom? Relevant? For simplicity's sake, No Is this during a class? An exercise/drill? War games? None of these Oh--is he a drill instructor, singing to keep the beat as recruits march? No

Is the country where this takes place relevant? United States, don't think that's particularly relevant Is a national anthem relevant? No Some military-related song? Yes/Yope A wartime propaganda song? No Something otherwise patriotic? See prior

[Balin]

CHRISTMAS HINT:
He was outside with a group of other students/trainees/(whatever the right term is) and their superior. Once he began to sing, they were all compelled to join him.

[Hobbsicle]

Does the superior sing with them? Does he do this to avoid getting in trouble with the superior?

[Balin]

Does the superior sing with them? Yes Does he do this to avoid getting in trouble with the superior? Yes, explore

[GalFisk]

Does he want them to not hear something? Not see something? Not go somewhere just yet? Is he covering for someone?

[Balin]

Does he want them to not hear something? Not see something? Not go somewhere just yet? No to these
Is he covering for someone? No

[GalFisk]

Is anyone else relevant? Is an order from the superior relevant? An order from someone else? Is a code of conduct relevant? Would the trouble consist of: being told off? Being deprived of a privilege? Being ordered to punitive duty? Demotion? Jail? Expulsion? Would anyone but him be in trouble? Relevant for how long the song lasts?

[Balin]

Is anyone else relevant? No Is an order from the superior relevant? No An order from someone else? No Is a code of conduct relevant? Not directly
Would the trouble consist of: being told off? Being deprived of a privilege? Being ordered to punitive duty? Demotion? Jail? Expulsion? The punishment would consist of the superior's imagination - think a drill sergeant's type of punishment
Would anyone but him be in trouble? Yes Relevant for how long the song lasts? Couple minutes

[GalFisk]

Would some of the singers be in trouble? Relevant what they would do after singing? Did they end up not doing something else becuase they sung? Becoming delayed? Weather relevant?

[Balin]

Would some of the singers be in trouble? Everyone singing, except the superior, is in trouble Relevant what they would do after singing? See next Did they end up not doing something else because they sung? YES Becoming delayed? Yes Weather relevant? No

[GalFisk]

Do the other singers realize singing is to their advantage? Are they late for something? Will they end up not going somewhere becaude they sing? Transport relevant?

[Balin]

Do the other singers realize singing is to their advantage? Yes
Are they late for something? Will they end up not going somewhere because they sing? Transport relevant? No to these

[GalFisk]

If they didn't sing, would they have gone somewhere? Would they be separated from the superior? From eachother? Do they avoid trouble entirely by singing? Relevant which direction they are facing? Which direction the superior is facing? Is something relevant done when singing this particular song? Such as saluting? Putting the hand over the heart?

[Balin]

If they didn't sing, would they have gone somewhere? No Would they be separated from the superior? No From each other? No
Do they avoid trouble entirely by singing? Depending on where "entirely" is placed in the sentence, Yes or No. If you mean "By singing, do they entirely avoid the trouble?", No. If you mean "Do they, entirely by singing, avoid the trouble?", then Yes.
Relevant which direction they are facing? No Which direction the superior is facing? No Is something relevant done when singing this particular song? Yope Such as saluting? Putting the hand over the heart? Possibly but Irrel

[GalFisk]

Is something relevantly not done when singing this particular song?

[invisiblemimsy]

Is it relevant who he is? Or his race, sexuality or something? Is it important that it's him who starts the song, or could it have been any other/s who started it? Is this a regular ocurrence? Is it the National anthem or some other patriotic song, which would impel the others to join in? Is it to cover up some other sound? Distraction from something they have done? Haven't done? Or what someone else has done? Is there death involved?

[Balin]

Is something relevantly not done when singing this particular song? No

Is it relevant who he is? Not to this puzzle Or his race, sexuality or something? Also irrel to this puzzle Is it important that it's him who starts the song, or could it have been any other/s who started it? Anyone but the superior in this circumstance could have started the song Is this a regular ocurrence? Noish Is it the National anthem or some other patriotic song, which would impel the others to join in? YES, it's the school song, and the important part is that everyone else must join in
Is it to cover up some other sound? No Distraction from something they have done? No Haven't done? Yesish Or what someone else has done? No Is there death involved? No

[JenBurdoo]

This sounds like some sort of hazing.

Perhaps they are in a hurry to get somewhere, but have been told that when asked a certain question or spoken to by a specific person they MUST stop and sing. (Thinking here of a punishment from Knights of the Dinner Table where when asked why they are wearing the Hubcap of Shame (TM), characters must dance and recite a rhyme about how they have brought shame on themselves and their community. Even if the asker has no idea who they are.)

If the superior were not present, could they have escaped without singing?

[invisiblemimsy]

Is someone about to do something, and they need cover or distraction? Or an alibI, or something similar? Does the song start with most people involved in that because it's de rigeur, and meanwhile someone else slips under the radar?

[Balin]

This sounds like some sort of hazing. It is actually not.

Perhaps they are in a hurry to get somewhere, but have been told that when asked a certain question or spoken to by a specific person they MUST stop and sing. No (Thinking here of a punishment from Knights of the Dinner Table where when asked why they are wearing the Hubcap of Shame (TM), characters must dance and recite a rhyme about how they have brought shame on themselves and their community. Even if the asker has no idea who they are.) Not like this

If the superior were not present, could they have escaped without singing? Yes, but see below

Is someone about to do something, and they need cover or distraction? Yes, see below Or an alibI, or something similar? No Does the song start with most people involved in that because it's de rigeur, and meanwhile someone else slips under the radar? No

I feel like I've been unintentionally misleading, so I hope this clears some things up: The singing is more of a "delay" than a "distraction."

[Hobbsicle]

So maybe they needed to complete something, but hadn't done it, or hadn't finished it in time, so they sing in order to delay the moment of punishment, giving them time to complete whatever they were supposed to?

[Balin]

So maybe they needed to complete something, but hadn't done it, or hadn't finished it in time, No...
so they sing in order to delay the moment of punishment, THIS is the other half of the solution.
giving them time to complete whatever they were supposed to? No, but I think we've got enough for a

****SPOILER****

(This is a true story I heard from a friend once, but I believe I have the details right.)

At this military school, whenever anyone heard the school song being played or sung, they were required to face the flag and join in the singing. Our Hero and his friends committed one of those military school errors and were being taken outside for punishment (which probably would have consisted of much exercise), but just before the superior started the punishment, Our Hero started singing the school song, requiring the superior (and everyone else) to face the flag and sing along. When he finished, he did it again. And then a few more times, before the superior moved the punishment to a location where they couldn't see the flag.

This was a bit tricky, but well done.

[JenBurdoo]

Okay, that's hilarious. Will remember this one.