Confusing Christmas Songs

While we were energetically singing "Jingle Bells" this past week, both of my kids corrected my lyric of "In a one horse open sleigh" to "In a one horse SOAPEN sleigh." This made me think of all the Christmas songs that I 1. Sang (sing) incorrectly, 2. Don't understand, and 3. Skip over entirely in our Reader's Digest Merry Christmas Songbook.

Lyrics I sang incorrectly as a child:
"Round YOUNG virgin Mother and Child" (She was young)
"Up on the housetop reindeer PAWS" (That one makes sense to me still to this day. Hooves can be referred to as paws, can't they?)
"Good tidings we bring to you and your KING" ("King" rhymes with "bring" better than "kin" does)
"Take a look at the FINEN TIN glistening once again" (I don't know what that means. So I looked it up. It's "Five and ten." What is that referring to? Cross streets? A time of day?)
"Here we are as in olden days, happy golden days of YOUR faithful friends who are dear to us" (What does "yore" mean? Did you know that before you looked it up?)

Lyrics I don't understand:
"We'll tell scary ghost stories" (This is from "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year." Is it common for people to sit around at Christmas and try to scare each other? Am I missing out on a fun holiday tradition?)
"Bells on bobtail ring" (What's a bobtail?)
"Twelve Days of Christmas" (There are birds given on days 1,2,3,4,6,7. If you write a song that has twelve different things in it and half of them are birds, why not do the whole song about birds? Did the guy not know any more bird names? I can't name 12 different birds. Do people give birds for Christmas? Is wanting a bird for Christmas common enough to write a song about it? I have some friends whose son is asking for a rat. (Apparently they are really smart and bond well with their owners. Who knew?) Then there's the most confusing part of all: "Four Colly birds" vs. "Four Calling birds." I didn't even know this was a debate until last week when we got a "Twelve Days of Christmas" book from the library. It says "Colly birds." (It means black bird. Thank you answers.com). My kids sing "Colly" now. Are they going to get beat up by the "Calling" faction? This discovery made me question years of singing an already confusing song.)

Christmas songs I have never heard nor sung yet are in the Reader's Digest Merry Christmas Songbook:
"The Merry Christmas Polka"
"Christmas in Killarney"
"Will Santy Come to Shanty Town?"
"The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot" (I just read the lyrics. Chorus: "He's the little boy that Santa Claus forgot, and goodness knows he didn't want a lot. He sent a note to Santa for some soldiers and a drum; It broke his little heart when he found Santa hadn't come. In the street, he envies all those lucky boys, then wanders home to last year's broken toys. I'm so sorry for that laddie; He hasn't got a daddy, the little boy that Santa Claus forgot." Really? That happy chestnut made it into this collection of songs? Are there really so few uplifting Christmas songs that this one made the cut? Was "that little boy" the editor for the songbook? Hmm...)

As a kid you never cared about getting the words right or even tried to understand what you were singing. You just loved being with family and sang the song loud and hoped that your enthusiasm for Christmas would somehow be detected by Rudolph's sonar.

So sing out this Christmas when you are a-wassailing with friends and kin (not king). It's the joy of being together that really matters.

Christmas Vacation

I just finished watching Christmas Vacation. It has been a family tradition for years now. "’Tis the season to be Merry." "A whole quarter!" "Are you serious Clark?" "THE BLESSING!" These lines can be heard at my house throughout the year. Chevy Chase was at his peak. What a funny, funny man. It seems like he hasn’t been given roles where he can really shine for quite some time. Fletch, the Vacations (minus Vegas), Seems Like Old Times, Three Amigos (one of my top 3 films of all time). These were films where his subtle, sarcastic presence really came through. I miss Chevy most at Christmas.

Every day the kids and I have begged my wife to "open just one present. PLEASE?" She hasn’t budged in 22 days.

I hope your holidays are filled with fun traditions. See you next year!

…SQUIRREL!!

Whole-Wheat Pasta, The Office, Orson Scott Card and Christmas

I had whole-wheat pasta for dinner tonight. I don’t know if I like it because it tastes good or because my brain tells me that it might be better for me than regular pasta. Come to think of it, the texture wasn't very appealing.

I'm looking forward to "The Office" tonight. It is an hour long. I was pleasantly surprised to finally find a good new sitcom this season: I watched "Help Me Help You" for the first time the other night and genuinely laughed the whole way through. I am excited to watch the next episode.

I am starting the Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card. I've only read a little bit, but already I am enthralled/addicted. I was on an OSC kick a while back and I read Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, Enchantment, Sarah, and Monkey Sonatas. Every thing he writes, I fall in love with. He has such a mastery of words and story telling. I am excited to be an OSC addict again.

I love the Christmas season. Christmas shows (Rankin-Bass Rudolph, The Animated Grinch, White Christmas, and Christmas episodes of my favorite TV shows); Christmas smells (Pine, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, oranges, wrapping paper, scotch tape, new electronics just out of the box (I still remember when I opened up my first Nintendo and the robot that came with it had such an exciting new smell. (The games that you used the robot on were fun for a minute, but then it would take too long for his head to move and you would get frustrated and move on to Mario Bros., Excite Bike, Castlevania, or Ikari Warriors (I think it was up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-b-a-select-start to get extra lives or something cool like that))), and new He-Man figures (yes, I do say at the end of "Wassail and Apple Pie" that I want Skeletor)); and Christmas music (Nothing beats The Canadian Brass Christmas).

I hope you have a very merry Christmas.

Thank you for all of your support this year. I really am blessed.

Friends and Brothers-- BYU Idaho

So I found a cheerleader outfit backstage during the Friends and Brothers Concert at BYU Idaho and it kept screaming, "Put me on! Put me on!" I didn't want to hurt its feelings, so I did as I was told. Needless to say, I had a great time at the concert.

Marvin Goldstein, Billy Dean, and Thurl Bailey are amazing men. I am better for having spent the day with them. I love Billy's deep voice and his touching lyrics. He is a genuinely nice guy. Thurl's heart is as big as he is tall. I remember being in Jr. Jazz and having him come and visit our team to show us how to do lay-ups. The circle has now come to a close. Marvin, Marvin, Marvin. I never have a dull moment on stage with Marvin. When we are together, we have more fun than the audience. I feel like I've accomplished something if he lowers his head to laugh at some dumb thing I do or say. If every show could be like this one, I would be in heaven.

I love meeting new people. The day before the concert, I hung out in a common area in front of the bookstore and talked and talked and talked. So many nice people.

The students in charge of "handling" me were so kind and accommodating. They didn't even bat an eye when I said I needed sliced deli turkey, wheat bread, and Gala apples with my initials peeled into them in large 3-D cursive letters. Thank you Nathan and Tara (or Tera or Tarra or Terra). You guys made everything run smoothly. The apples were delicious.

I have finished the Christmas album and it is being duplicated this very minute. It is called "Merry White Tree in the Night." I have never been happier with an album. I could sing praises to Nathan DeVore day and night and never praise him enough. He is an insane genius. His originality, vision, and talent are miraculous. Yes, miraculous. He makes miracles.

I will be visiting a lot of places over the next few months. If I'm in your area, stop by and talk for a while.