By Diane Peck, Columnist
I can’t think of another time of year that involves music as beautiful, moving, fun and sometimes downright cheesy, as the music of the Christmas season. We’ve got the traditional favorites and popular holiday songs performed by hundreds of artists in every style imaginable. Why, Bob Dylan even threw in his musical Santa hat this year!
The impact of any song is determined by the singer. I mean, only Alvin and the Chipmunks themselves can do their Christmas song justice. And I sure don’t want to hear the likes of Bing Crosby singing “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” Charlotte Church has a beautiful voice, but the words of sopranos often are undecipherable to the normal human ear. Give me Wynonna Judd singing “Mary Did You Know?” with that powerhouse voice of hers and I’ll be believing every word of that song!
My personal all-time favorite Christmas songs are: “O Holy Night,” by anyone with the range to handle it; “Christmas Dinner” by Paul Stookey, just because it is so sad and sweet at the same time; “Twelve Days of Christmas” Muppet-style; and that unforgettable B.C. Clark Christmas jingle, sung by random people in all walks of life.
According to most sources, “White Christmas,” “The Christmas Song” (chestnuts roasting on an open fire), and “Silent Night” are the three most popular songs of the season. For kids, I’d have to say “Jingle Bells” is where it’s at. Why, even one of our favorite pre-k and kindergarten songs is sung to the tune of “Jingle Bells,” providing us with the happy sound of Christmas all year long. It goes a little something like this:
“Cotton candy, fat pink pigs,
Girls with socks and bows.
P-i-n-k p-i-n k, that is how it goes.
Bubble gum, valentines,
these are all pink, too.
Pink icing and pink balloons,
we can spell, can you?”
It’s no secret most folks seem to enjoy warbling out a good Christmas song. Oh, we can carry the tune just fine — it’s those dang lyrics that get in the way! Yeah, we start out with a great big bunch of holiday gusto, only to find we don’t know a word past the first line or two. One popular little tune that comes to mind starts out: “O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree ....” After that — I got nothin’! It doesn’t help that there are multiple versions of the next line. (I prefer “how lovely are your branches” to, say, “thy branches are so verdant.”) When in doubt, just keep on singing that first line over and over to the end.
“Jingle Bell Rock” is a happy little tune with forgettable lyrics. Here’s what comes out when I give it a try: “Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock ... jingle bell something else, but I don’t know what!”
Although it’s one of my favorites, “Twelve Days of Christmas” gets a little sticky, for me, somewhere after eight maids a’milking. I know there are ladies, drummers, pipers and lords in there, but where and how many of each of those rascals?
And what about just plain old misheard and mangled lyrics? I’m sure for every Christmas song, there are hundreds of stories out there about lyrics gone wrong — especially when performed by merry little tots everywhere. Some classic examples: Round John virgin; One horse soap and hay; We three kings of Orientar; He rules the world with Ruth and Grace; See the blazing Yulbie Forest; Join the triumph of disguise; and Joy to the world, the Lord has gum. (Kids LOVE gum!)
But don’t let a little thing like not knowing all the words stop you from belting out those Christmas classics. ‘Tis the season to be jolly — it won’t hurt to hum a few bars!
Peck is a local mother and grandmother who works in Enid Public Schools. She can be reached at peckaroonie@yahoo.com.
