I'm going to steal a couple of ideas from Briane Pagel and his The Best of Everything Blog. Ramping up to the Bah Humbug Blahgfest, I thought I'd do some good things about the holiday season. Today: my favorite holiday song that's not really a holiday song.
Have you ever noticed a lot of holiday songs aren't really all that related to any holiday? Like "Jingle Bells" for instance. I mean that's just about riding around in the snow on a sleigh. Or "Winter Wonderland" is about walking around in the snow. They're winter songs more than Christmas songs, yet we associate them with the holidays for some reason.
By comparison my favorite holiday song that's not really a holiday song does have a firmer correlation to an actual holiday because the title is "Same Auld Lang Syne" by Dan Fogelberg. Auld Lang Syne is that song people sing as the clock hits midnight on New Year's. What does Auld Lang Syne mean? Don't ask me. I'm not Catholic so I never took Latin or nothing.
At the end of the song there's a saxophone solo playing "Auld Lang Syne" really slow and sad. So there is that relation to an actual holiday. But the main part of the song itself isn't all that holiday-y. A musician walks into a grocery store and bumps into an old flame. They go out to the car and have a couple of drinks, but she's married (to an architect she doesn't really love) so they don't hook up.
Really there's nothing about New Year's in that, except for the idea of old acquaintances. The story in the song could happen at any time of the year, but I suppose New Year's is when we think about the past and the future so it's good symbolically.
Even though the song is really old, from 1981 or so, and easy listening, I like it because it does have such a great story within it. You get two fairly well-developed characters and a pretty well realized situation. If you just printed out the lyrics it could be a short story.
Anyway, it's too bad this song gets shelved the rest of the year because it is a good example of quality songwriting. I mean come on, listen to this and go listen to that "Soul Sister" song by Train. Yeesh.
According to Wikipedia, it means some thing 'long, long ago'. And it isn't Latin, or if it is, then Google translate is broken. Well, Wikipedia says its from a Scottish poem, maybe it's Gaelic or something.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I spent 45 seconds looking this up, it would have taken me days in the library to uncover this info when I was a kid. Kinda freaky.
Sweetie loves this song. I'm not crazy about it. But you're right: It really has nothing to do with the holidays. It's a Christmas song the way 'Love, Actually' is a Christmas movie: They're set at Christmas, which is about all it takes. Unless you're talking about Frosty The Snowman, which doesn't even bother with that.
ReplyDeleteLast year I did a series of posts on Christmas songs that had nothing to do with the holiday. They're under 'Minibests', I think. I'll have to repost the lyrics.
You are onto something sir. I've noticed for some time that some Christmas music has nothing at all to do with Christmas. But I think the whole season is fake anyway so why not just lump songs that have no association with the season to that too? It's all commercialism, designed to evoke an emotional response which will get you to spend money.
ReplyDeleteAnd so many of these songs are about stupid 19th Century or early 20th Century crap. Like who has a freaking sleigh anymore? Or who would actually give someone a partridge in a pear tree? It's pretty silly.
ReplyDelete"Auld Lang Syne" is actually a language called Scots. Which is a Germaic, old language from Scotland.
ReplyDeleteThis song would make me stop and listen when I was growing up, since it told a story.
Another song that does that to me is Kenny Loggins "Celebrate Me Home," which he never intended to be a Christmas song, but is reserved for airplay only during this time of year.
Ha, Christmas music, bah humbug. I work in a shop with 9 hours of it 5 days a week for 6 weeks. Nuff said
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I grew up listening to the music for it in Lassie as Greensleeves. I loved it.
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