Sounds of the Season

[vovat]

It's about time for the radio stations to start playing Christmas music, and here I am without a functioning car radio. At least that means I won't have to hear that "Christmas Shoes" song, though. I can't believe I know people who actually think that song is a tearjerker. Come on, a kid's mom dying on Christmas is just too easy. It's schmaltzier than a kosher deli, and some people are buying it. No wonder everyone has such a low opinion of the American public. I do like Christmas songs in general, though.

Speaking of Christmas songs, thanks to the Allan Sherman box set that I just got (thank you, bethje!), I learned that the version of "The Twelve Gifts of Christmas" that I've known for years is actually slightly edited. The fifth gift was originally identified as "statue of a NAKED lady with a clock where her stomach ought to be." Interesting, huh? Well, it was to me, anyway.

Last night, Beth and I went to see her cousin in The Crucible, which was a lot longer than I would have expected. I'd seen the movie before, but I didn't remember it too well. I have to wonder if the Puritans were really as dumb and repressive as history and popular culture make them out to be. I know all societies are subject to mass hysteria and such, but the Puritans seemed to be over the top even so.

Comments

[science.livejournal.com]

Christmas shoes and that dude that's supposed to be Santa talking about the war veteran in the shack are two songs that I won't mind not hearing ever again in my life.

[bethje.livejournal.com]

that dude that's supposed to be Santa talking about the war veteran in the shack

LOL, I haven't heard that one. Is it a country song? It sounds like it would be. People love tearjerker songs too much, especially when they're about Christmas.

[science.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure it's a country song, but I'm sure it has wide appeal. It's a slow rendition of "Silent Night" and a guy with a Wilford Brimley-esque voice (but with more marbles in his mouth) breathily reading a letter or something as if he's Santa Claus.

Actually, I found it, it's called "Soldier's Christmas", and someone made a video for it on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lbH0YqrCqY

This comment on the page sums up my thoughts on the song:
"Sentimental schlock, and emotional exploitation.

This "soldier" must have not been a good one if he is living in a shack and won't slit the throat quickly of this "stranger" all of a sudden in his shack watching him sleep."

[bethje.livejournal.com]

Wow! That was so mind-blowingly terrible! Not to mention the comments. It does sound like something country radio would play. Or something Sean Hannity would play...

I hope Santa Claus doesn't really sound like that.

In the related videos, there are a bunch of similar kinds of exploitational drool. The kind that are extra American.

Are these things made on PowerPoint?

I can't get over this!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I hope Santa Claus doesn't really sound like that.

Yeah, I always thought he was supposed to sound jolly, not grizzled.

Are these things made on PowerPoint?

Probably. What I really wonder, though, is why there's a picture of Tim Allen in it.