Thursday, December 16, 2004
Christmas Carols
Am I the only person who is annoyed to no end by the lyrics of the Christmas song "I Wonder As I Wander"?
And what's with calling us all "orn'ry"? We may all be sinners, but that doesn't make us all "having an irritable disposition; cantankerous." (m-w.com)
Secondly, what's with the song "The Little Drummer Boy?" What's a shepherd doing with a drum in the first place? Wouldn't that scare the sheep away from him? And do you think Mary would have "nodded" and let this kid whack away on his drum when she's just gotten the baby to sleep? I don't think so.
Next up: "Rudolph." That introduction kills me. "You know Dasher and Dancer . . . But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?" Granted, Rudolph never existed till this song was written, so all the kids at the time of its debut actually DID know Dasher and Dancer and Vixen and all them. But at the time, Rudolph was NOT the most famous reindeer of all.
Now, of course, he is. With the exceptions of that lame 80s movie "Prancer," and a bit part for Comet in "The Santa Clause 2," none of the original eight reindeer get any individual press whatsoever. Kids these days don't "know" them. They only know Rudolph.
Therefore, saying, "You know all these other reindeer, but do you recall Rudolph?" is like saying, "You know Chester Arthur and James Buchanan and John Tyler and Warren Harding. But do you recall George Washington?" "You know Captain Panaka and Greedo and Ki-Adi-Mundi and Lobot. But do you recall Luke Skywalker?" "You know Thomas Randolph and Ben Jonson and Francis Bacon and John Donne. But do you recall William Shakespeare?" Stupid.
Finally, for those who are interested, here's a novel Mormon interpretation of "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
I wonder as I wander out under the sky"Like you and like I"?!? Never in my life have I heard such a grating abuse of the English language for the sake of a rhyme. I could understand if you separated the "I" from the "like" and said "like you and I." That's still wrong, but sometimes stupid people talk that way. When you actually stick in another "like," though, right next to the "I," there's no excuse. Nobody ever says, "That person is just like I." **shudder**
How Jesus the Savior did come for to die
For poor orn'ry people like you and like I
I wonder as I wander out under the sky
And what's with calling us all "orn'ry"? We may all be sinners, but that doesn't make us all "having an irritable disposition; cantankerous." (m-w.com)
Secondly, what's with the song "The Little Drummer Boy?" What's a shepherd doing with a drum in the first place? Wouldn't that scare the sheep away from him? And do you think Mary would have "nodded" and let this kid whack away on his drum when she's just gotten the baby to sleep? I don't think so.
Next up: "Rudolph." That introduction kills me. "You know Dasher and Dancer . . . But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?" Granted, Rudolph never existed till this song was written, so all the kids at the time of its debut actually DID know Dasher and Dancer and Vixen and all them. But at the time, Rudolph was NOT the most famous reindeer of all.
Now, of course, he is. With the exceptions of that lame 80s movie "Prancer," and a bit part for Comet in "The Santa Clause 2," none of the original eight reindeer get any individual press whatsoever. Kids these days don't "know" them. They only know Rudolph.
Therefore, saying, "You know all these other reindeer, but do you recall Rudolph?" is like saying, "You know Chester Arthur and James Buchanan and John Tyler and Warren Harding. But do you recall George Washington?" "You know Captain Panaka and Greedo and Ki-Adi-Mundi and Lobot. But do you recall Luke Skywalker?" "You know Thomas Randolph and Ben Jonson and Francis Bacon and John Donne. But do you recall William Shakespeare?" Stupid.
Finally, for those who are interested, here's a novel Mormon interpretation of "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
Comments:
Hey Matt,
So Uffish Thought told me that you had a blog, and look! I found it. Just wanted to say hi and say it is exciting to find an old Board writer on the net. Hope you are having fun at Harvard.
And the other day we were discussing the language in this very song. It even came on the radio right about at that same moment as well. It's funny the things that people will do to get their words to rhyme.
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So Uffish Thought told me that you had a blog, and look! I found it. Just wanted to say hi and say it is exciting to find an old Board writer on the net. Hope you are having fun at Harvard.
And the other day we were discussing the language in this very song. It even came on the radio right about at that same moment as well. It's funny the things that people will do to get their words to rhyme.
