Happy Friday! We are at the midpoint of December and Christmas is only a couple of weeks away. No doubt you hare hearing a lot of Holiday music, but are you really hearing the lyrics to the old, familiar songs? Some of them make you stop and go “hmmm.”
Enjoy!
Frosty the Snowman
“Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal”
I have previously stated I am not a big fan of Frosty. That being said, this song has some seriously flawed theology, as do many popular Christmas songs by the way. Three quick problems with the above lyrics: 1) a snowman does not have a soul, jolly or otherwise; 2) should a snowman be teaching children to smoke with his corn cob pipe? Shouldn’t he be avoiding all forms of heat?; 3) everyone knows that a snowman’s nose is supposed to be a carrot, not a button!
The Wassail Song
“Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a-wand’ring
So fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail, too,”
I have never in my life gone a a-wassailing and not sure I know anyone who has. It is December, if I am among the leaves where I live, they are not green, they are brown and blowing around.
Up on the House Top
“Next comes the stocking of little Will
Oh, just see what a glorious fill
Here is a hammer and lots of tacks
Also a ball and a whip that cracks
Ho, Ho, Ho! Who wouldn’t go?
Ho, Ho, Ho! Who wouldn’t go?
Up on the housetop, click, click, click
Down through the chimney with good Saint Nick”
What better gift for a little boy than a hammer, tacks and a whip? What could possibly go wrong here? And while you at it, let’s all go up on the roof and try to enter the house via the chimney.
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
“You better watch out, you better not cry
Better not pout, I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is comin’ to town
He’s making a list and checking it twice
Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice
Santa Claus is comin’ to town
He sees you when you’re sleepin’
He knows when you’re a wake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake”
Ominous, threatening and down-right creepy. Let’s the kids sing this and it will not be visions of sugar plums that will be dancing through their heads.
There Is No Place Like Home for the Holidays
“Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays
‘Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze
For the holidays you can’t beat home sweet home!
I met a man who lives in Tennessee, and he was headin’ for
Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie
From Pennsylvania folks are travellin’
Down to Dixie’s sunny shore
From Atlantic to Pacific
Gee the traffic is terrific!”
Pining is something I do not do a lot of and when the traffic is moving at 5 mph “terrific” is not how I would describe it.
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
“Now bring us some figgy pudding
Now bring us some figgy pudding
Now bring us some figgy pudding
Now bring some out here
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year
We won’t go until we get some
We won’t go until we get some
We won’t go until we get some, so bring some out here”
We are at your house and we are making demands and will not leave until they are satisfied – is that the real spirit of the Season? Of all the things to demand, not sure figgy pudding would be at the top of anyone’s list.
Thought for the Week
“It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!” ~ Charles Dickens
Leonard's Lines 