HateSong Kyle Kinane pa-rum-pum-pum-pum’s his way through hating “Little Drummer Boy”

avclub ^ | Marah Eakin

[backwoods-engineer]

Of course. They hate the song about Mary and Jesus, but LOOOOOVE the utterly secular "Winter Wonderland."

Every year, the War on Christmas wears on me a little more.

[Fiji Hill]

My favorite Christmas song is “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” but only if all seven verses are sung and only if it is sung to the tune “Waltham,” written by John B. Calkin in 1872.

I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th’unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn, the households born
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

[workerbee]

AVC: It’s supposedly based on a 12th-century legend about a juggler who juggles before the statue of the Virgin Mary, and then the Virgin Mary statue smiles or throws him a rose.

Is this true? I never knew this.

I'm pretty neutral about this song, but my daughters have always loved it.

[Fiji Hill]

They hate the song about Mary and Jesus, but LOOOOOVE the utterly secular "Winter Wonderland."

I love the utterly secular "Winter Wonderland"--my favorite version is the one by Richard Himber and Hotel Ritz-Carlton Orchestra. The lyrics contain a message of hope: "gone away is the blue bird." And a few months after the the tune was a hit, the Supreme Court--in the Schechter Poultry Corporation case--sent away the blue bird.

[wgmalabama]

Giving back to God his given talent refined is an awesome gift IMHO. I like the song and one of my favorites.

[JoeProBono]

[Intolerant in NJ]

Especially poignant because I think Crosby died the following year and never saw another Christmas....