I went out to coffee with some of the guys (I'm not out to them), and one fellow was having a birthday. Everyone did the "Happy Birthday" thing, and I was startled. My voice had just shifted, incompletely, into baritone, and had no idea how to sing that song in my new voice. Or in my old tenor, for that matter. I had never bothered to practice.
I just moved my lips, but I practiced in the car on the way home. As I suspected, I was in the wrong key and wound up squeaking. Then I went too low. Eventually, I figured it out. A couple of months later, I picked up some more lower range, and that made it even easier. Now I won't be caught with my pants down next time. So to speak.
But I started thinking...what other songs might catch me unawares? I'm thinking of songs that I might be expected to sing in public.
"For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" (maybe)
My country's national anthem--"The Star-Spangled Banner" (I don't go to ball games, though)
"Auld Lang Syne" (New Year's Day is coming up, but I have no plans to party that night)
I don't do Christmas carols, so I have a good excuse not to practice them on the off chance that someone might expect me to belt one out.
I can't think of anything else. Has a song ever caught you by surprise this way?
Amazing Grace