I was doing a little light research on Christmas music when I ran across this unexpected bit of info: "12 out of the 25 most popular songs were written or co-written by "verified" Jewish composers." I knew that many Jewish singers had recorded Christmas music, including Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis Jr., Neil Diamond, and Barry Manilow, but I didn't know the songs themselves were written by those who don't necessarily subscribe to The True Meaning of Christmas. I mean the Nativity is pretty much the birthplace (ironic deliberate double entendre) of the schism separating Judaism from Christianity, and those of the Jewish persuasion are decidedly sitting in the visitor stands at the Christmas celebration.
In fact none of the 12 songs on the list actually get right down to acknowledging Christ as God in the flesh, and savior to mankind (even The Litttle Drummer Boy lyrics - which only refer to "a newborn king", unless pa rum pum pum pum is Latin for Christ is Lord.) No...most of these are Santa songs and Winter songs. Still...I might be forgiven for feeling a bit of encroachment....
Worse, in the course of my perusing the vastlands of "things I don't know" I discovered that two years ago Bob Dylan (nee Robert Allen Zimmerman...yes, Jewish) released his Christmas Album. Dylan's version of I'll Be Home for Christmas is what I imagine would result if the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come were to sing a Public Service Announcement about the effects of smoking on the human larynx. Honestly, listening to the song I'm thinking "Bob,if you are not already in the driveway, I'm not betting you'll actually make it." I love all of you and would never intentionally harm you, but I think you have to hit the link to that song for an abject lesson in Just Because You Can Doesn't Mean You Should as it applies to recording Christmas songs.
Still, it may not be the very worst Christmas recording ever by a big name. Remember when David Allen Coe made his famous amendment to Steve Goodman's "perfect country song" by adding references to drinking, rain, prison and trains? I think Mr. Coe had a valid point about country music. That said, I'm not sure the idealized notion of Christmas mixes well with Deliverance realities. For my money the world had gotten on very nicely prior to and without the recording in which Grandma has an unfortunate and fatal encounter with a member of Santa's precision flying squadron.
Still, at least that song tells a story, which is more than I can say for John Denver's recording Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk This Christmas) . Beyond the creepiness of Denver trying to pass himself off as an eight year old boy, and way past the irony that Denver himself was a practicing alcoholic, this song leaves one with the feeling that the writer meant to include a verse or two to actually tell us more than last year Pops got into the eggnog and little Johnny's hoping there won't be a repeat. Seriously...this song has all the charm, depth and coherency of a 2:00 a.m. drunk text in which the author himself blacks out midway through his fuzzy idea. If you put this one on your iPod be certain to add it to the What Were They Thinking? playlist!
3 comments:
We noticed a few years ago that the secular stations (98.9 and 102.5 in Greenville) play exclusively cultural Christmas songs now. There's no Jesus, none at all.
So we either stick to CDs, iPod or Christian stations around Christmas.
On Pandora, I've had success typing in the name of an actual song (i.e., O Holy Night) and then that will play more of the specific type of music you're looking for.
Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that you started listening to Christmas music BEFORE Thanksgiving??? Hum..... did you think about that??
Kelley - if I never listened to Christmas music until the end of time it still would not make Bob Dylan's song remotely pleasant on the ear!
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