We call this day First-Official-Christmas-Song Day.
Oh, and how we love it.
That's right, folks, dust off the old family vinyls of Bing and Burl, break out the egg nog, and mix liberally with a nice medium bodied rum - you're gonna need it.
My first memory of First-Official-Christmas-Song Day comes from a few years ago, back in the days when my brother and I still argued about the front seat of the family car. We were driving back from Wooster, chock full of turkey and newly minted family memories. I had my legs propped on the dashboard, warming my toes against the heater while my mother filled the car with gas. From somewhere in the back seat, I heard a squeak. I readied myself to drop the seat back into a quick recline, catching whoever was sitting behind me in a vice-like grip between the floor and the maroon upholstery of the back seat when something in the noise made me pause.
"Is it time?" my little brother asked again.
Is It Time. The words sent a chorus of silver bells ringing through my thoughts.
Yes. I thought. It is Time...
By the time my mother got back into the car, we were a 6 or 7 swimming swans into the 12 days of Christmas, and arguing about what came next. This was a recurring problem. Past 7, things get murky. One more leaping lord or dancing lady didn't seem to make all that much difference. Fortunately, this argument was easily resolved by consulting The Source. The Source was a decorative candle stashed somewhere amongst the faux pine wreaths and the plastic holly in our attic on which was inscribed, in miniature, cylindrical perfection, 12 tiny tableaux which depict the various gifts referred to in the song. The candle was always the first decoration to be put out, along with the cotton advent calendar we used to hang on the hallway wall before we lost most of the stuffed tree ornaments.
Hot damn we loved that song...
And then of course there were those hilarious grammar school classics - All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth... I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus... The Chipmunk Song...
Grandma Got Run-over By A Reindeer...
and the ever popular, altered versions of Jingle Bells and Rudolph I'm sure we all still laugh at every time we hear them.
I was always partial to Elvis, so Blue Christmas was in my repertoire practically before I could crawl.
- Jingle Bell Rock was such a stunning piece of musicality that I considered it above the Black Friday to Christmas restrictions placed on other such holiday hits.
And now?
Ah heck, I still can't get enough of 'em!
My holiday play list (which lays dormant for roughly 230 (emotionally) frozen days a year) is 5 hours long and soaks up 285.6 MB on my hard-drive.
I have five versions of White Christmas. (another perennial favorite from the days when a green Christmas seemed just as likely to be a sign of impending apocalypse) And four different Jingle Bells. I don't even LIKE Jingle Bells. Although, to be fair, who does?
This is my absolute favorite way to study for finals or write soul-killing term papers. Curled up in my bed with a candy cane and a couple hours of aural pleasure on my iTunes I can almost forget about years that stress and lack of sleep are slowly taking off my life.
Awww, Christmas...
Given that its the season of giving, I will post here, absolutely free, my top 12 list (all available now on iTunes for your consumptive pleasure):
All I Want For Christmas Is You - Olivia Olson
The Chipmunk Song - The Chipmonks
Silver Bells - Bing Crosby
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Rockapella
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - the Temptations
Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
Santa Baby - Eartha Kit
The Christmas Song - Mel Torme
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Ella Fitzgerald
This Christmas - Donny Hathaway
Donna & Blitzen - Badly Drawn Boy
Please Come Home For Christmas - The Eagles
So please -
frost the sugar cookies,
bust out the grog,
and have yourself a very, merry, Christmas season.
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