Friday, December 19, 2008

The holidays...



I love the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah, New Year's...I love them all. I spend an appalling amount of money buying songs and materials for my students to do holiday lessons, just waiting for that four-week period where I get to do this sort of stuff.




I especially love '80's Christmas music. Sometime, when you have a second, go back and listen to "Last Christmas" as recorded by Wham!. How did we ever, ever believe that George Michael was straight? Also, check out the video- I downloaded it from iTunes. Seriously, George and the other guy are feuding over an extremely '80's-looking girl. It is craptastic.




While you're in the land of the '80's, give a listen to "Do They Know It's Christmastime" by Band-Aid, the most defunct celebrity supergroup ever. You can tell they thought Boy George would be a superstar for a long time, with all the solo lines he got to sing.

Bono sounds the same, thank goodness...
What bothers me, though, are the Christmas songs designed to make you feel bad. "Do They Know It's Christmastime" is on the cusp, but because of its awful cheesy goodness, I accept it. I heard a song on the radio the other day, though, about a pathetic little boy buying shoes for his dying mother to wear in her coffin, or something, and I was sobbing by the third syllable. Why?? Why do that to me at Christmastime? Stop it!
Give me Willie Nelson singing "Frosty The Snowman." Or Carrie Underwood singing "Do You Hear What I Hear." Give me happy cheesy goopy glurgy holiday cheer. I can't get enough.

5 comments:

Barbaloot said...

I can't STAND the Christmas shoe song. Drives me crazy---and now that I know I'm not the only one I refuse to feel guilty about hating it.

"Last Christmas" on the other hand...there is a song worth loving.

Camille said...

I heartily agree...except there is one goppily gooey song that makes me cringe every time. It consists of two girls singing "dear Santa" over and over and over again. Makes me cry...

rychelle said...

THANK YOU!
i thought i was the only one who hated that christmas shoes song. i actually shut the radio off when it's played. unfortunately, it's played a lot.

Kristina P. said...

I have become a Christmas music Grinch! That's what happens when you work in an office all day, and all you hear for 8 hours is crappy Christmas music, over and over again!

3 Bay B Chicks said...

I LOVE the Band-Aid song. Makes me laugh everytime I hear it, which is about 5 times a day this time of the holiday season.

I almost fell out of my chair when my husband relieved to me the other day that he didn't know what song I humming along to while we were in the car. What?! How could you have lived through the '80's and not be familiar with Band-Aid? Their video moved me to tears in junior high! :)

-Francesca