Baby, It’s Controversial Outside

Christmas Day may be over, but there are plenty of us who are only on the fifth day of Christmas. I mean, it’s only “Five golden rings!” day, right? Still, for those who have already put their trees on the curbs and their lights in the attic, a song about snow is okay, right? I mean, no harm in that.

Except that this particular song can no longer be played or spoken about without talking about the controversies around it. I tend to land on the side of the feminist writer from the online magazine for women called Persephone, a precursor to what would later become Jezebel, who claimed that from a woman’s point of view, this was actually a song about what were considered gender norms at the time, and that in the social climate of the 40’s when the was written, it seems that the young woman in the song did want to stay, but to preserve her reputation, she had to act like she “tried” not to.

It was definitely not intended for kids. There was some talk of banning it from the air waves even when it first came out, due to its adult themes. As one writer in Variety Magazine put it in 2018:

But, returning the tune to the adult company where it belongs, it should be and generally is understood that this is a dialogue between who both very much want to get it on… but only one of whom, in the song’s period setting, has the freedom to explicitly say so.

Chris Willman, Variety Magazine, December 5, 2018

Two years later, Rolling Stone had this helpful article that covered the history of the discussion from 2005 through the #MeToo era. And while I don’t see the “what’s in this drink” line as meaning the same thing it means in a Bill Cosby day and age, I too find myself shocked and repulsed to see Ricardo Montalbán’s character grab his date by the arm and pull her back into the chair. So, I’m not trying to paint it all clear and squeaky clean.

Still, if you dig into some of the links above, you’ll get an idea of how language evolution plays a part. That may be why my very favorite version of the song is played by these two young men whose characters obviously are very interested in staying together. In their interpretation, it’s a flirtatious, rather than a coercive song.

Christmas Time is Here

It’s Christmas Eve and I have no wise words to say. I only wish you the best and most beautiful Christmas possible. Thank you for sharing the music. I don’t know anything about Daniela Andrade, but the moment I saw her singing to her little puppy dog, I fell for both of them.

The photo above is an old favorite from, oh maybe 15 years ago? My boys and I will be celebrating our Christmas next weekend, and I can hardly wait. For tonight, it’s off to Brian’s family’s place in Wilkes-Barre. Let the celebrations begin.

God Rest Ye Merry Everyone

I confess, this post might not have anything to do with the photo of my oldest kitty cat, but maybe it does. I mean, look at him. If that’s not the image of peace and rest, I don’t know what is.

I absolutely love everything about this song and video. Annie Lennox in this reminds me of my friend Ann Keeler Evans, the priestess marching through the land singing of joy and welcoming peace. I love it.

It’s the day before the day before Christmas. It’s a joyous time for those who celebrate it, and it can be a time of grief too, missing those who we wish were with us this year. If you’re lucky, you’re like Milton the kitty cat there, in a cozy place where you can nap. Whatever your situation, as Ann might say, I bid you peace.

Merry Christmas from the Family

I have no excuse or rationalization for this one. I suppose this is the redneck version of the Dropkick Murphy’s “The Season’s Upon Us,” with the song’s references to wacky family members. But I have to say, this one is much more like my upbringing in a working class central Pennsylvania family. The photo above is actually Brian’s delightful family from northeast PA back in 2018, with the marvelous Momma Kelly leading the dance. But this song? Well, this song today is more about my own family.

I can’t say that my parents ever got drunk at Christmas parties, but over the years there were definitely parties. Drinking, dancing, and fun, sometimes by the river with my parents’ friends Ila and Ken, where 12-year-old David was the only one able to keep up with the ladies on the dance floor.

Often these parties occurred for seemingly no reason at all. Visits from relatives or friends turned into reunion gatherings and people I didn’t even know doing the “Locomotion” around our basement. That’s where dad had his bar, and where my buddies and I found the keys, not to steal the booze—that was awful—but to pour ice water into Dad’s drinking glasses. He had the kind with pictures of women whose clothes disappeared when in contact with condensation.

While Christmas itself was often pretty tame in my memory, I swear that this cast of characters is most like the ones I grew up with. Again, I like the reality mixed into this crazy song, things like what needed to be picked up from the “Quick Pack store,” and how the family confronts their own racism when they realize the Mexican boyfriend sings Christmas songs too. I suppose it’s uncouth, but if you want a certain view into my childhood, this song provides it.

It’s the Friday before Christmas, and things are about to get more serious, so pop open a Diet Rite or pour yourself some of that champagne punch. Here’s Robert Earl Keen with “Merry Christmas from the Family.”

Fairy Tale of New York

The title is intentionally ironic, and the characters say horrid things to each other, but it remains a favorite Christmas song for many, myself included. In the opening lines we picture an old timey New York City, the land of opportunity where immigrants arrive to make new lives for themselves, and young people come to pursue their dreams.

Then reality happens. And I think this is what gets to my heart about this song. Somewhere between Shane MacGowan’s lyrics, the music, and he and the singers’ voices, we get a deep sense love, a history of longing, and some moving details of this pair’s love story.

Not Kirsty and Shane’s, but the characters whose voices they take up. And that’s an important point. This song has seen some controversy in it’s time. I would think that calling the woman a slut would have been as bad as the gay slur in the original lyrics, but the verbal abuse of the woman seemed less important to the censors than the slur. I say this as a gay man: I was never offended by any words in this song because they were all completely in character for the people the song portrays.

I understand and appreciate people’s desire to be sensitive. But are these same people sensitive about cop shows and gangster movies where murder and mass blood shed appear on the the TV screen almost nightly? It’s a story. It’s not real, but it is an image, a portrait of a reality, and if in context, it makes the story more able to grip our hearts, well, so be it. That’s my opinion, at least.

We mentioned Kirsty MacColl back in October when we played Tracy Ulman’s cover of her song “They Don’t Know,” and I promised we’d hear Kirsty for Christmas, so some of you knew to expect this song, and at least one said you were looking forward to it. I know I’m not along in my love for the song.

I don’t care for dwelling on death anniversaries, but it may be of interest to know that Kirsty was killed in a boating accident in Cozumel twenty three years and three days ago. Shane MacGowan, lead singer of The Pogues died of complications from pneumonia just last month. His birthday is coming up on Christmas Day. He would have turned 66.

I’m including the original video, though I think the slur was overdubbed with “you’re cheap and you’re haggard.” Below that, you’ll find Irish singers Glen Hansen and Lisa O’Neill with their performance at MacGowan’s funeral last month at Saint Mary of the Rosary Church in Nenagh, Tipperary. That one was sung in its original form.

Merry Christmas from Elton & Ed

Say what you want about Ed Sheeran, he’s a clever musician who, like Taylor Swift, has worked hard to get where he is. Some of it, as in making it big, they say is luck, some of it is talent, but there’s a lot of hard work involved. Sheeran basically went from being homeless to being the best selling global recording artist of 2017.

And two years ago, he did this crazy Christmas video with Sir Elton John.

And what can I say about Elton that you haven’t heard? Maybe watch the movie over the holidays. Meanwhile, it’s Wednesday in a week of unexpected duets. And I have to get back to work. “Merry Christmas!”

Bing, Bowie & the Drummer Boy

The rain has stopped finally, but in a few weeks, if we’re “lucky,” we may have manger scenes like this one again in Pennsylvania. It can take a while to get the Christmas decorations down. Maybe that’s why Mom used to want to wait until the sixth of January. She said it was for Epiphany (the celebration of the coming of the wise men), but she was Baptist, not Catholic, and I think she just just liked keeping the pretty lights up.

Somewhere along the way someone added an extra character to the manger scene, a little tyke with a drum. Yes, of course you know this song, but we are going into a week of Christmas duets and it just wouldn’t be right not to play this modern classic. Apparently, David Bowie did not like the song “Little Drummer Boy,” whatever he says in the sketch about it being his son’s favorite. And so his part was written in a few hours on set.

It’s said that Bing Crosby had no idea who Bowie was, but I had my doubts about that. Too good of a story to be true. So, after a very short bit of digging, I had my suspicions, corroborated, if not completely confirmed by what I found in the Washington Post from 2006. Ian Frazer, co-writer of Bowie’s part in the duet said this: “I’m pretty sure he did [know]. Bing was no idiot. If he didn’t, his kids sure did.” Remember, the skit leading up to the song was just that, a skit for Bing’s Christmas special in the UK.

I can’t say I ever hated the song like Bowie did, but the best part as a kid was always that “parum pa pum pum” bit. I do remember liking the claymation Christmas special quite a bit. But my favorite thing about this duet is the “peace on earth” segment and how beautifully their voices blend together.

Happy Monday. One week until Christmas and it’s time for this Bob Cratchit to get back to work!

The Season’s Upon Us!

I was out with some friends helping to do the annual Christmas Bird Count in a nearby area yesterday, so we didn’t have a Song of the Day. I might have been wearing on my fellow birders a bit, though, because I kept trying to add “a partridge in a pear tree” to every list at each stop. Or sometimes I’d slip in “three French hens!” or “two turtle doves!” Maybe I’ll see if I can share a photo of Jessie’s (our CBC leader) on here later this week. Too bad we didn’t have any snow.

Lacking that, I’m including another snow pic from a few years after the last one I shared here. That’s my oldest, Josiah, there in the foreground of that photo up top. Seems good to include something local now that I’m back home in Snyder County again after all these years. There’s a little hill at the front of the high school in Middleburg where we took toboggans down. Just the right size to climb for three little guys and their dad. The whole neighborhood was out that day, circa 2003 or so.

So, this is it, the countdown week! The week before Christmas, well, eight days anyway. We have one request this coming week and a few interesting duets, as well as one or three more traditional Christmas songs. A little something for everyone, I hope. We’ll also have a bit of serious, or not so serious fun, like this tune from the Dropkick Murphys. If you’re a personal family member of mine, don’t take this too seriously, and please don’t take any part personally. None of these verses are about you . . . probably.

Driving Home for Christmas

I’ve been going through a bunch of old photos and scanning my favorites. Here’s a nostalgic image from the mid 90’s with my oldest two sons, Josiah and Jonathan, getting in the swing of the winter weather.

I had several ideas about how to complete this week’s theme of “Going Home,” but I swear, all the choices felt so sad. The famous “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” was originally abut a soldier thinking of home, and the chorus always ends with the phrase that tells us it isn’t going to happen when he says, “if only in my dreams.” Heck, Leonard Cohen’s gorgeous “Going Home,” I realized is a metaphor for dying, “going home without the costume that I wore.” Even Lana Del Ray’s version of “Country Road” kind of sounds like she’s returning to a funeral.

The holidays can be sad in many ways, and I don’t want Jeff’s Song of the Day to make it sadder for anyone. Besides, other than maybe a few really cool videos that add something fun or unique to the music, I want us to play songs that are maybe a bit different than the ones you’re be being bombarded with in Target, Walmart, and even the grocery store.

So, here’s one I found that is almost about as much about the video as it is about the music. In fact, the lyrics might not even be that important. You could almost make up your own, which is what this tune feels like for me. One of those driving songs you make up to pass the time. It’s called “Driving Home for Christmas” from 1986, by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea.

This looks so much like Pennsylvania, it reminds me of a year that we drove over the Loganton Mountain after a snow storm to pick up my boys for Christmas. And even if you live deep in the south, I think you can enjoy this white Christmas sort of song and make it fit your own needs this holiday, even if instead of driving, you’re staying home for Christmas.

Home Again

If I failed to make it clear, I’m not quite to Christmas yet, though waking up to flurries this morning helped. I have a simpler (but lovely) tree this year, and Eliot, our fluffy Muppet and I have been enjoying the decorated neighborhood on our evening walks. I’m enjoying taking the approach to the holiday slowly.

My three boys and I enjoyed dinner and a couple of pitchers of lager together on Sunday night. That was catching up on the last two birthday celebrations. I seem to be as busy as ever, but life is pretty nice right now. I have a good job with good people, good friends, even if most are far away. As Frank Turner says, “The best people I know are looking out for me.”

I hope you are in a good place yourself. The theme this week is “going home” or “coming home,” and we started Sunday with the Avette Brothers singing about leaving home and sort of coming back, at least in some sense. So this week is about the journey back, the trip before the gathering, and all the introspection that may entail.

Let’s journey back to 1973 with an old song about home from Carol King. “Home Again.”