christmas song ramblings
Ever stop to think about the words in the Twelve Days of Christmas song?
Does anyone seriously want their true love to give them so many birds? Between the partridge, turtle doves, French hens, calling birds, laying geese, and swimming swans, you’d really just end up with a whole lotta crap to clean up.
I would know. I have a bird.
And I can’t help but think of a horrible musical with all those milking maids, dancing ladies, leaping lords, piping pipers, and drumming drummers. Cue mental image of men in tights wielding musical instruments and frolicking about with large-chested women. Nothankyou!
The only thing in the song my true love is even allowed to give me is gold rings. (As long as they’re white gold.) But, in all honesty, who needs five? Certainly not me.
K. Your turn!
What Christmas song do you totally hate? (Tell us why!)
Is there one you really love?
Any guesses which is my favorite? (I’ll tell you in a comment later tonight!)
[repost, with edits]
Okay, so I don’t totally hate it, but We Wish You a Merry Christmas is actually wicked rude!!!!! Yeah the first verse is all nice and what not….we wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year! Great. Fabulous. Cue second verse: now bring us some figgy pudding! BRING US SOME FIGGY PUDDING! AND BRING IT RIGHT HERE! Wow. That’s pretty demanding for guests who are coming to share Christmas joy with me! But then the third verse!!! We WON’T go until we get some! We WON’T go until we get some! So bring it right HERE!
So rude. Ummm O Holy Night is my favorite carol! And Do You Hear What I Hear and The First Noel aaand… well I love most Christmas songs. Rudolph is classic.
There’s so many horribly sappy Christmas songs…like Christmas Shoes….etc, etc.
Ugh.
Favourites : O Holy Night, Carol of the Bells, Gabriel’s Message, Last Christmas (seriously…horrible sentiment really, but such a good pop song), O Come O Come Emmanuel…
There’s also some great ones about Christmas in Australia written in the 1940s – Carol of the Birds, The North Wind…
So overall, I love Christmas music.
Interesting aside…did you know that 4 notes in The Twelve Days of Christmas are copyrighted, while the rest is free to use? Any guesses as to which 4 notes they are?
ummmm… i’mma go with “partridge in a pear tree…”
Um, there’s actually 7 notes in that phrase…. :)
i’m not musical at all.
can you tell?! ha!
i think it’s the classy 5 white-gold rings!
That’s them Earl – added in the 1930s or something like that.
I’d have to look up WHY they were added and changed from the original….but I guess like a lot of folk style songs, it probably changed a bazillion times over the years anyway
Oh, tough call on my most hated Christmas song so I’m going with a tie: “I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas” and “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth”
I think hippos are cute in their fat and cartoony version. But, a real hippo is pretty scary (I’ve watched a Discovery Channel show on them that scared me to death). Besides, I think the song is pretty stupid. The first time I ever even heard the song was at my childhood church’s annual women’s Christmas dessert. A ridiculous local “celebrity” (who looks kind of like the Monopoly man) was the night’s entertainment and I just remember watching him sing with his handlebar mustache and silly bright green outfit, mouth agape, and thinking, “This is the worst Christmas song I have ever heard.” “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth” is equally stupid. I don’t find it cute at all, just annoying.
Now that I’ve gotten the worst Christmas songs out of the way, Oh…how could I even begin to select a favorite Christmas song? Too many awesome tunes to choose from, but I will pick two: Amy Grants “O Come All Ye Faithful” – she has been a constant part of my holiday soundtrack since I was 8 years old (and, I’m 30) – and Jill Phillips “Labor of Love” – which KILLS me.
your monopoly man description cracked me up!!
i can’t stand “santa baby”. just typing out the name makes me cringe.
Sooo… that song may have been playing in Gap when Mom, David and I were shopping a couple weeks ago. I may have been dancing around just to be silly… and some other guy (who was shopping with his wife) saw me, and it made him laugh out loud. Nobody else noticed but me. GRIN.
Ohhhh I completely hate Santa Baby….makes me wanna slap her!
Eeeewwwwwww!!!
i didn’t see all these up here about santa baby.
when i worked at eddie bauer in high school that song was on the christmas soundtrack so i heard it over and over. grr.
I agree – All I Want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth, not a fan of Christmas Shoes either. I’d add Deck the Halls. All that Fa la la-ing.
Generally, I love Christmas songs though. Favorites are: What Child is This?, Silent Night, It’s True (Sara Groves), Children Go Where I Send Thee (esp. Natalie Merchant’s version), I Heard the Bells, Christmas Song (Dave Matthews).
I’m guessing Silent Night for yours.
my fav isn’t even technically a christmas song. it’s this one from A Charlie Brown Christmas. i just love it though. makes me smile and wanna dance… every.time.i.hear.it.
So many I don’t like.
O Holy Night has long been my favorite… and a bonus is that it doesn’t get overplayed too often like Jingle Bells and All I Want For Christmas Is You… ew.
ok – so I know you said the 12 days of Christmas isn’t your favorite, but google Straight No Chaser and listen to their accepella version – they incorporate Toto’s “Africa” into the song – and it is FANTASTIC. You can also find it on iTunes.
The worst for me is Hark, How the Bells – you know, the “ding, dong, ding, dong” ad naseum song… Drives me batty.
I agree with Alece I hate The 12 Days of Christmas…. but this version was ROCK’n! Thanks for sharing!!
That was great! Thanks, Jennifer!
i do like their version – so so fun!
Christmas Shoes-gross
It’s the most wonderful time of the year-delightful
let’s first start off by establishing that I don’t really care for ay Christmas music
that being said, there is one song that I particularly hate
The stupid little drummer boy song
really, who wants to sing again and again about the obnoxious and loud sound that some kid made on his drum? Count me out!
My all time favorite is ‘Mary did you know?’
something about that song makes Jesus so much more real to me. I heard it more than 10 years ago and it has been my favorite ever since. Each time I hear it, something just captivates me!
So, I’m not sure if this is true, but when I was interning at this Christian organization a few years ago, we studied the origins of Christmas. This is what we learned about the 12 Days of Christmas:
‘People often think of The Twelve Days of Christmas as the days preceding the festival. Actually, Christmas is a season of the Christian Year beginning December 25 and lasting until January 6 which is the Day of Epiphany – when the church celebrates the revelation of Christ as the light of the world and recalls the journey of the Magi (the wise men).
From 1558 until 1829 people in England were not allowed to practice their faith openly.
During this era someone wrote “The Twelve Days of Christmas” as a kind of secret catechism that could be sung in public without risk of persecution. The song had two levels of interpretation: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to Christians.
The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ.
The two turtledoves are the Old and New Testaments.
Three French hens stand for faith, hope and love.
The four calling birds are the four Gospels.
The five gold rings recall the torah (Law) the first five books of the Old Testament.
The six geese-a-laying stand for the six days of creation.
Seven swans-a-swimming represent the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit.
The eight maids-a-milking are the eight beatitudes.
Nine ladies dancing are the nine fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22)
The ten lords-a-leaping are the Ten Commandments.
Eleven pipers piping stand for the eleven faithful disciples.
Twelve drummers drumming symbolize the 12 points of belief in the Apostles Creed.
There you have it, the HIDDEN meaning of…..“The Twelve Days of Christmas”, and the Good News and secret behind the song!’
My favorite song(s) is(are): O Come O Come Emmanuel, O Holy Night, The Christmas Song, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and White Christmas!
Least Favorite: I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
hmmm… i kinda remember hearing that about 12 Days before… interesting…
Can’t stand: Little Drummer Boy. Last Christmas by Wham/George Michael
Favorites: Hmmm Oh Come All Ye Faithful, Angels We Have Heard on High, Many more
Oh and Carol of the Bells by Trans Siberian Orchestra is an ALL TIME FAVORITE
ooooh yeah! i like TSO!
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree….just terrible.
And I also hate how every time someone “remakes” a Christmas song, it seems to get slower and slower. “I’m………………….dreaming……………..of a………….white………………………….Christmas……”
I love (and I may be mocked, but it won’t change my mind) Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Pretty much that entire album.
I forgot to mention All I Want For Christmas Is You – definitely one of the best recent Christmas (pop) songs.
And that is easily Mariah’s best album too, I think.
i won’t mock you, but i gotta be honest. i can’t stand that mariah carey song!
(and i totally know what you mean about the songs getting slower and slower… ha!)
I love O Holy Night….especially on the violin and Carol of the Bells by Trans-Siberian Orchestra!
And completely despise Santa Baby……Arggghh…
How has no one mentioned “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer”?
Hate. It.
As far as favorites? Anything sung by Bing Crosby or Ella Fitzgerald.
Heard that just a little while ago in Walmart and CRINGED!!!
oh yes. i forgot about that one. there are several that i instantly changed the station for.
your “bing and ella” choice just made me fall in love with you.
You say that as if our love has not already been well-documented…..
haha!
Funny, I have a similar post scheduled for later this week. I LOVE “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” The words are SO powerful and my high school’s choir does a phenomenal processional to this every year at their Christmas concert. I could listen to it over and over and over….
Least favorite? I do hate that “Christmas Shoes” song. But I know there are others…. Sometimes I just hate a particular version.
Hmm. I can’t think of a Christmas song I hate, but I did want to say your bird is awesome! I’d love to have a bird, but I have an evil cat and I think he’d make my life a living hell if I brought a bird into the house.
maybe you should get rid of evil cat…??? (just sayin’…)
Well, I pretty much think “I’ll be home for Christmas” should be outlawed on radio stations until our soldiers are home from the long war. I keep yelling at my radio “STOP LYING TO ME HE WON’T BE HOME” which is, obviously, a totally rational statement to make to an inanimate object.
Fav’s – Carol of the Bells and Canon in D. Apparently I don’t care for words in my Christmas music :)
So I work at a church
and yesterday I was convicted on my Christmas knowledge…like biblical knowledge not “Christmas movie or story book knowledge” because I got an 8 out of this test
http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Bible/Quizzes/Quiz2.htm
(Can’t resist trivia) There were a lot of trick questions in that test! I don’t think it’s really your Bible knowledge there. After all, the Bible doesn’t say who exactly the Magi were. That’s a supposition of history. At any rate … I got 15 out of 20. And I guess the other 4 I got wrong really were stated in Scripture. Poo.
Favorites: O Holy Night, O Come O Come Emmanuel, What Child is This?
Just-kill-me-now ones: Anything with Alvin and the Chipmucks, Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
Your favorite? Absolutely NO idea. Tell us!
the 14 year old i live with recently played me alvin & the chimpunks singing “all the single ladies”. while their voices make me cringe, it was just so dang funny to hear them singing that song!
my fav isn’t even technically a christmas song. it’s this one from A Charlie Brown Christmas. i just love it though. makes me smile and wanna dance… every.time.i.hear.it.
I just heard a really depressing one it almost made me cry. I think it was same old langs eyne. And I spelled that wrong. I love o holy night with all the verses. Talk about amazing words. One year for easter me and Kendra went to cape town and heard the Messiah which is also a christmas time thing. It was so beautiful and the words so powerful. I remember thinking with tears in my eyes ‘do they even know who they are singing about’. Every time the radio plays one of the really powerful christmas songs I just hope it hits someone and changes them.
favorites: O Holy Night, Go Tell it on the Mountain (but only when Casey’s uncle Rich sings it…..he has an amazing voice!), White Christmas (when Bing Crosby sings it….also this is one of my favorite Christmas movies!), and O Come Emmanuel
dislikes: Santa Baby, Grandma got run over by a reindeer”, Santa Claus is Comin to Town (some economic situations nice kids don’t get presents on Christmas and they think the reason is because they were naughty).
Worst Christmas Songs:
John Denver’s “Please Daddy (Don’t Get Drunk For Christmas) – Sappy Country Christmas song.
The Ramones “Merry Christmas Baby” – The Ramones, Christmas song, enough said.
Favorites:
The Christmas Song – Nate King Cole
Breath of Heaven – Amy Grant
The Wexford Carol – Loreena McKenitt
White Christmas – Andrea Bocelli:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbkwT9bMO54
I absolutely hate “Santa Baby” too. Horrible.
Loves: Carol of the Bells by TSO, Mary, Did You Know?, My Grown Up Christmas List (Kelly version)
Can’t stand: Santa Baby
Really like: O Holy Night, any Mannheim Steamroller and Baby it’s Cold outside
how was the manheim steamroller concert???? (i’ve been meaning to ask you!)
Loathe “Santa Baby.” Loathe might not be strong enough, either. I love “O Holy Night” and “Do You Hear What I Hear” (Even if the words make very little sense to the Christmas story…). “Do You Hear What I Hear” is my favorite, too. I can listen to Bing Crosby sing it about a million times and never tire of hearing it.
“It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” is my guess for your favorite and it is a seriously long-shot type of guess. I only type it here because that’s what the radio is playing right now… :)
nope! my fav isn’t even technically a christmas song. it’s this one from A Charlie Brown Christmas. i just love it!
Oh. And I seriously want to give a shoutout to the film Holiday Inn – where the song White Christmas originated. LOVED that film – so good! Bing. What a voice.
Yes indeed. I just wish Bing hadn’t done that horrible horrible duet of Little Drummer Boy with David Bowie about 6 minutes before he died.
I bet he wishes he didn’t either…he’s made himself turn in his grave for the past 32 years with that one…
never seen it!
my “Deck the heck” no list:
-santa baby (amen)
-g’ma got run over by a raindeer
-I saw mommy kissing santa clause
-winter wonder land
-frosty the snow man
-Mariah Carey’s- All i want for Christmas (own personal heck)
“O Holy” yes list
- Chestnuts Roasting
- O holy night (Tracey Chapmen version)
- Have yourself a merry little christmas
PS- any Lady Shaddy Christmas songs = definitely deck the HECK NO!
oh my dang! i loved your lists!
i’mma need to hear tracy chapman’s “o holy night”…
White christmas movie is so good. Seen it three times this winter already. I have a double cd of bing crosby Christmas and its just great.
Love – Carol of the Bells, O Come O Come Emmanuel, All I Want for Christmas
NO WAY – 12 Days,Grown up Chrsitmas List, Santa Baby (although mostly for the way she sings it … if she didn’t sing it that way, I’d just not really like it rather than having it irritate my ears),Santa got run over … um … a lotta secular songs that are seriously irritating to listen to.
Your fave – I feel like I should know this from previous years of blog posts (and I could cheat and look it up I s’pose). Um. I’ll guess O Holy Night because so many people love that one. (I know that’s a great reason, and if I offend I’m sorry. Not saying you’re a ‘go with the flow’ gal!)
o holy night is my second favorite. and usually the one i say when i’m asked. simply because my real favorite is kinda hard to explain! ;)
Oh my! I agree.. with your pick….there is even a commercial on talking about that this year…make me laugh.
Blue Christmas….Elvis.
All I Want for Christmas is You…Mariah Carey.
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer…ugh.
Up on the Rooftop……weird but, it’s because I had to play it so many stinkin’ time when I was little for piano lessons.
There’s my short list!
falling into bed… can’t wait to read all your responses tomorrow!
as promised—better late than never…
my favorite christmas song isn’t even technically a christmas song. it’s this one from A Charlie Brown Christmas. it makes me wanna dance whenever i hear it.
my second favorite, and more true to being an actual christmas tune, is “o holy night”.
The Charlie Brown Christmas CD (if it even is a CD…I suppose I should say album) is one of my favorites! I always play it when I do my Christmas cards!
i got it on cd a couple years ago… i LOVE it!
Twelve Days of Christmas is definitely one of them. But, I definitely hate Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer.
My favorite is most definitely Mary, did you know? Love, love, love that powerful song!
Call me lame, but I don’t like jingle bells much.
O holy night #1
and
Mary did you know #2
and
Do you hear #3
Alece that is so NOT a christmas song! Is t even on the charlie brown christmas album? My sister has it and my mom hates it.
WHA!? it is SO on the christmas album. i promise!!!
Going to Pandora right now and putting it on a Christmas station. I haven’t really tuned in this year…and the season is going to be gone before I know it.
ya know… all this talk about christmas music, and i haven’t put any on yet either. i’m being a bit of a grinch this year…
‘o come, o come emmanuel’ is my absolute favorite christmas song. so haunting and beautiful! and my church does an uh-mazing rendition of it, complete with gregorian chants and pounding on some tin trash cans, stomp style. holerrr.
i’m with faith – would love to see/hear that if it’s available anywhere!
Taylor that sounds awesome. Would love to hear that if its recorded.
in case you missed it, taylor posted this link to that song. it’s SO good!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWQKJKQus8A&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_stronger_r2-2r-1-HM
I can’t think of any Christmas song that really bothers me. Give me a few more days of listening to them on the radio and I might have something though.
I must say that Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer brings back memories though. We used to play that in middle school, because the assistant principal hated it. Not only did he get to hear us practice, but his son was in band, so of course he had to show up to the concert, too.
i’m totally with natalie. anything bing and ella sing contribute to my many favorites.
i really don’t like that drummer boy song or do you hear what i hear….
monotonous.
Alece! What an amazing testimony you have! Just stoppin in from Cindy B’s blog. I will definitely be coming back girl! Blessings to you!
thank you, steph! we’ve got a GREAT mutual friend! love me some cindyB!
Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. I would say because it strikes a nerve, but I don’t think anyone would believe me, so instead I’ll go with “it’s freaking annoying.” The strikes a nerve comment works better at ending the agony though.
do tell. seriously.
Alece, I gave you an award over at my blog!
ooooh! thanks!
My two favorites are 1. Do they know it’s Christmas time – by all those peeps in the 80’s and 2. the Christmas song by Dave Mathews and that other guy who plays backup guitar.
DMB has been on my “to get to know” list forever. i don’t think i’d know a song by him if i fell over it, but i feel like i would like them. hmmmm…
LOVE LOVE LOVE I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day!! Pedro the Lion’s version makes me all emotional. I love Casting Crowns and Bryan Duncan singing this song too.
I just remembered another one I can’t stand. Happy Birthday, Jesus.
Twitch.
oh i’m with you on that. so slow and… creepy.
So … some station playing Christmas songs is on right now, and guess what just played?! Your Charlie Brown Christmas song. :D So, even if it’s not technically a Christmas song … you’re apparently not the only one who hears it as one!
yesssssss!
Favorite Christmas song: O Holy Night. As a worship leader, it’s VERY difficult for me to plan this one during the advent season, as I want it to be “perfect” in every way…
One I hate: Little Drummer Boy. Every time I hear this song, I’m okay until the “Pa rum pum pum pum…” part. I don’t know why but I cringe more in this one than in “Come, Now is the Time to Worship.”
i love “o holy night”! such a gorgeous song…
and i had a laugh over you cringing at “come now is the time to worship”!
Haha, yeah, it’s definitely not one of my favorites (Come, Now Is The Time…), but I’ve tried rewriting the music a couple times, and I think might be on to something…
a snippet video featuring part of our version of ‘o come, o come emmanuel’ can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUa2InhXGxo&feature=youtube_gdata
and a free download of the song should be here:www.lifechurch.tv/christmasmusic
enjoy! :)
ooooooh! that’s awesome!
last year’s full performance is at http://bit.ly/6Gz1Kd. the sound is a bit muffled at times, but it still gives me chills!
i LOVE that! they seriously rock that song!
Oh gosh, did you see “the Office” this past week? If not, you should go to the nbc website and look it up. It reminded me about this blog. FUNNY!
i’m SEASONS behind on the office, so i haven’t been watching. i wanna find last week’s episode and watch it now though!
I was listening to Frosty the Snowman the other day on the radio… it disguises itself as a childrens song but I hate it when Frosty leaves, “dies.”
Frosty the snowman knew
The sun was hot that day,
So he said, “Let’s run and
We’ll have some fun
Now before I melt away.”
And I’m with everyone else…. Don’t like Santa Baby. Or O Christmas Tree and Joy to the World is not one of my favorites either. It sounds too harsh.
Overall, there aren’t many that I don’t like. Even the ones that I listed I will still listen to. It’s not too bad when there’s only a short time out of the year that they are acceptable anyway.
I thought of another one…
Here in Washington we have a Christmas CD of our own to help out Children’s Hospital (I think..). Christmas in the Northwest and Seattle’s Latte Land are awful. I cringe every time I hear them.