It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas

At our house, Christmas music started playing before Thanksgiving. The tree went up Thanksgiving day, was decorated and Christmas shopping is almost complete (no thanks to me). One thing I've noticed is that there is a limited number of Christmas songs, so you end up hearing the same ones over and over (and over).

It struck me the other day that there should be a law prohibiting anyone but Burl Ives recording "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas." No, I didn't hear another version (maybe the law already exists and I didn't know it), but as I listened and sang along, I decided that was the only version I wanted to hear. Somehow, I can't picture Taylor Swift singing that song.

Some songs - Jingle Bells for example, can be sung by anyone and sound good. But when anyone other than Bing Crosby (not to be confused with Bill Cosby) sings "White Christmas" it just doesn't come out right.

There are other songs which "belong" to a single artist - Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas" is one that comes to mind (although the Porky Pig version is pretty good). What about you?

What songs would you limit to a single artist?

Old dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine

For some reason this weekend, this old Tom T. Hall song entered my ADD-rattled brain and I've had trouble getting it off my mind. A quick search this morning showed me I'm not completely alone (see this lady's blog about the song and her family).

In the song, the singer stops in a hotel bar in Miami for a quick drink before bed. He sounds like he'd prefer to be alone, but someone sits down beside him and begins to talk. Man, I hate it when that happens. But the singer learns something from the visitor as he explains "Ain't but three things in this world that's worth a solitary dime..." ...wait for it... "...But old dogs and children, and watermelon wine."

Hall has many songs that I love, including his hit "I Love". Some of his songs are funny, one that my kids have heard me sing a lot is "Sneaky Snake". I also like "Faster Horses" (another song about the virtues in life, in this case "faster horses, younger women, older whiskey and more money").

Probably my favorite song by Hall is the simple melody "I Like Beer". But of course a paragraph on simple melodies would be incomplete without the mention of the song "That Song is Driving me Crazy" - ever get a song stuck in your head and it won't leave? - this song will stay in your head for weeks.

Rhapsody describes Tom T. Hall as "story teller, poet, philosopher." I think when I die, I'd like to be known as a philospher (it would be even better to be thought that way now - but the pay isn't what it used to be). You can read the lyrics and even listen to "Watermelon Wine" on Rhapsody's site here.

What words do you bleep out?

Earlier this week I was listening to the radio when the song "I Put Your Picture Away" came on. The song is performed by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow, lyrics can be found here and a music video can be found here (video starts playing automatically, so use care in a work environment). I've always thought the song was a good one. Kid Rock could make a good country singer if his songs contained trucks, trains or references to Willie Nelson (which this song almost does).

While listening, I realized that the station bleeped out (or more accurately wiped out) one word. In the song, Kid Rock sings about needing "a good girl to miss me" and being away from the one he loves. To get through the pain, he's with a "different girl every night at the hotel" and he's "been fuelin' up on cocaine and whiskey." The word cocaine was wiped out so that he says he's "been fuelin' up on whiskey." Ahh the beauty of digital editing.

Now I do believe promoting drug use in a song is a bad idea, but I also noticed that there were some four letter words that were not clipped. Admittedly, the two words that are used are words you could hear in church Sunday morning, even from the pulpit (but probably with different intent). But these aren't words I would use in front of my mother or my children - and that's the standard I try to use.

I confess that I tend to be more sensitive to four letter words than the average American. But it made me wonder - what words do you bleep out? No I'm not asking you to post them here, my mother and my children read my blog. But if you have any bleeping comments I'd like to hear them.

Unusual Christmas songs

I love listening to unusual Christmas songs. Everyone has heard "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" (lyrics here). That song has probably been banned in several homes.

This year, I heard a new one: an old Ray Stevens song called "Bad Little Boy" by Ray Stevens. If you're like me, you start laughing when you know it's from Ray Stevens. The lyrics are here. Seems Ray "ain't gettin' nothin' this Christmas". Now most people will confuse this with the song "I'm Getting Nuttin' for Christmas" (lyrics here). But they are two different songs.

Yesterday, I heard one that I'm not sure I ever heard before. The title is "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas." You can find the musical version here on YouTube. I can just picture the little girl singing and marching to the song. You can find the lyrics (and youtube) here, but don't launch both websites at the same time.

What's your favorite "unusual" Christmas song?

Lost Music

Several years ago, I was in Wal-Mart and happened to walk up on a singer, playing guitar and singing songs. He was of course advertising his albums (actually tapes and CDs, but you know what I mean). He was dressed in a country style: blue jeans, hat, etc. I liked his music, so I bought a cassette tape (remember those?).

Trouble is, I loaned it to someone and never got it back. The singer's name was Fratt. No first name, no last name, just Fratt. The only song I remember on the tape was the Ray Boltz song "The Anchor Holds" - a really terrific song. I remember I liked the whole tape.

Today, I searched for the singer, but alas, I came up empty. I don't know if he changed his name and made it big in another country or just faded into the sunset (like a good cowboy). But I wish I could find some of his music again.

Juniper and Lamplight

Listening to an old Simon and Garfunkel tape (you remember those?) I heard the phrase "We walked on frosted fields of juniper and lamplight."

Now I know what juniper is, it's an evergreen. In my mind, all evergreens are pines or cedars. Juiper is a cedar. But what is lamplight? Is it a flower? I can't find it and google is no help.

There's also a phrase "Pressed in organdy; Clothed in crinoline of smoky Burgundy."
I had to look for "organdy" and "crinoline". Impressive. (look for it yourself)

I've heard the song many times before, but never looked for the words. Now I'm even more impressed. What a neat song. Those guys could write some good love songs. Not too sappy. But deep. Oh the song title is "For Emily, whenever I may find her".

The Strong One

Last night my wife and I went to a Clint Black concert. It was in a city theatre (rather than an auditorium) so the ambiance was very nice. His tour is appropriately called "Up Close and Personal". Even though we were some 15 or so rows back, we had excellent seats as did everyone in the theater.

Along with a lot of favorites, he sang his new song "The Strong One" - a story about the strong ones in our lives: our mothers. It's a story about a single mom and it includes the line "you tell me who the strong one is." Excellent song.

Clint also did a Willie Nelson song and he actually did a better Willie than Willie does. His story about the time he met Willy before a CMA show was hilarious.

The opening act was Laura Bryna. She was good and I'll probably buy her upcoming CD just to hear more of her. She still has a ways to go. I read her resume on the program and it was impressive. Her personal comments also gave me a lot to believe in.

Overall, the night was a nice change from everyday doldrums. If you get a chance to see the tour, you should go.