Tuesday, December 8, 2009
"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by John Lennon
It has been about three decades since John Lennon was assassinated in New York City, but his music remains as relevant as ever. This stirring anti-war Christmas ballad has become a mainstream holiday song, despite its somewhat bleak lyrics and protest message.
By 1971, when "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" was recorded, Lennon was already a well-known spokesman against the Vietnam War and war in general. He had previously launched a billboard campaign in cities around the world using the slogan "WAR IS OVER! (If You Want It) Happy Christmas from John and Yoko."
The lyric to "Happy Xmas" intersperses a bleak assessment of the years concluded and to come with the sincere, uplifting choral refrain "war is over, if you want it" (sung by the Harlem Community Choir). The combination makes for an eloquent statement of Christmas sentiment, with an acknowledgement that there are things which cannot yet be celebrated. Although the song never made an impact on the US singles chart, and reached its highest UK chart position (#3) in 1980, following Lennon's assassination, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over) has become a Christmas standard. It has been covered by many acts, some of whom shamefully omit the "war is over" lyric, destroying the Christmas message of the song.
"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by John Lennon
Lyrics to "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"
(Lennon/Ono)
(Happy Christmas, Kyoko
Happy Christmas, Julian)
So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
A new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas (war is over)
For weak and for strong (if you want it)
The rich and the poor ones (war is over)
The road is so long (now)
So happy Christmas (war is over)
For black and for white (if you want it)
For yellow and red ones (war is over)
Let's stop all the fight (now)
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas (war is over)
And what have we done (if you want it)
Another year over (war is over)
And a new one just begun (now)
And so this is Christmas (war is over)
And we hope you have fun (if you want it)
The near and the dear ones (war is over)
The old and the young (now)
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now
(Merry Christmas! Happy Christmas!)
Official video for "Happy Xmas (War Is Over" (embedding disabled)
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) lyrics
"O Come All Ye Faithful" ("Adeste Fideles")
Although there are contradictory accounts of the song's origins, "O Come All Ye Faithful" was most probably written by John Francis Wade in around 1743. Originally penned in Latin (as "Adeste Fideles"), it has been suggested that the song was a coded tribute to the Jacobite pretender to the English (close to Angels) throne, Bonnie Prince Charlie.
"Adeste Fideles" gained great popularity in the English Catholic community and extra Latin verses were added to Wade's original four. Many translations of "Adeste Fideles" have been rendered in English as "O Come All Ye Faithful, often with some of the verses omitted. This is a commonly used version:
"O Come All Ye Faithful remains a much-loved Christmas carol, performed by pop stars and church choirs alike.
Here is a classic choral version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" by the choir of King's College, Cambridge:
Irish vocal artist Enya performing "Adeste Fideles" in the original Latin:
"Adeste Fideles" gained great popularity in the English Catholic community and extra Latin verses were added to Wade's original four. Many translations of "Adeste Fideles" have been rendered in English as "O Come All Ye Faithful, often with some of the verses omitted. This is a commonly used version:
"O Come All Ye Faithful" Lyrics
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;
O come, let us adore Him! O come, let us adore Him!
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal,
Lo, He shuns not the Virgin’s womb;
Son of the Father, begotten, not created;
Refrain
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;
O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest;
Refrain
See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle,
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps;
Refrain
Lo! star led chieftains, Magi, Christ adoring,
Offer Him incense, gold, and myrrh;
We to the Christ Child bring our hearts’ oblations.
Refrain
Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger,
We would embrace Thee, with love and awe;
Who would not love Thee, loving us so dearly?
Refrain
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.
Refrain
"O Come All Ye Faithful remains a much-loved Christmas carol, performed by pop stars and church choirs alike.
Here is a classic choral version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" by the choir of King's College, Cambridge:
Irish vocal artist Enya performing "Adeste Fideles" in the original Latin:
Monday, December 7, 2009
"Blue Christmas" by Elvis Presley
With "Blue Christmas" the greatest solo performer of rock 'n' roll brought his enviable crooning abilities to an unconventional Christmas tune. Written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson and first recorded by country-western performer Ernest Tubb in 1948, the lyrics of "Blue Christmas" are not standard "rock around the Christmas tree" or "god bless you merry gentlemen" fare. In his unique style, Elvis Presley communicates a Christmas story of longing and heartache more familiar to country music than rock 'n' roll or carols. The song has been recorded by numerous acts since Elvis included it on his 1957 Christmas album, but the King's version remains the standard.
Video for "Blue Christmas" by Elvis Presley:
Ernest Tubb's 1948 recording of "Blue Christmas":
Cover of "Blue Christmas" by Bright Eyes:
Video for "Blue Christmas" by Elvis Presley:
Ernest Tubb's 1948 recording of "Blue Christmas":
Cover of "Blue Christmas" by Bright Eyes:
Lyrics to "Blue Christmas"
Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson
I'll have a blue Christmas without you
I'll be so blue just thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me
And when those blue snowflakes start fallin'
That's when those blue memories start callin'
You'll be doin' alright with your Christmas of white
But I'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas
You'll be doin' alright with your Christmas of white
But I'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas
I'll have a blue Christmas that's certain
And when that blue heartache starts hurtin'
You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white
But I'll have a blue, blue Christmas
alternate verse:
(I'll have a blue Christmas I know dear
I hope your white Christmas brings you cheer
And when you say a pray on this Christmas Eve
Will you feel the same dear as when you prayed with me)
The Twelve Days of Christmas
A traditional English Christmas carol, dating at least as far back as the early 18th century, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" remains an annual favorite, well known throughout the English-speaking world. The "twelve days of Christmas" refer to the twelve days beginning on December 26th (Boxing Day or St. Stephen's Day) and running to January 6th. Although in modern times Christmas celebrations culminate on the 25th of December, for many years the celebrations continued from first night (Dec. 25) to the twelfth day (Jan 6th). Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night refers to the celebrations of January 5th.
The meaning behind the gifts of the the twelve days has been variously interpreted. Religious meanings can be parsed, but the true meanings seem to have been lost over the years. The song follows a culminating pattern, with each verse building on earlier verses. The time signature varies throughout each verse and through the song, creating a sense of action in the final verses.
Several versions of the lyrics to "The Twelve Days of Christmas" exist. In the most common version, the lyrics to the final verse read: On the twelfth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me: "On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me/Twelve Drummers Drumming/ Eleven Pipers Piping/ Ten Lords a Leaping/ Nine Ladies Dancing/ Eight Maids a Milking/ Seven Swans a Swimming/ Six Geese a Laying/ Five Golden Rings/ Four Calling Birds/ Three French Hens/ Two Turtle Doves/ and a Partridge in a Pear Tree." In the United States, the first line is more commonly "my true love gave to me." (Full lyrics below.)
The song has been recorded by numerous artists in varied styles.
Here is a video of a recording of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by Tennessee Ernie Ford:
There are almost as many spoof versions as real versions. My favorite is a 1981 version by "Bob and Doug McKenzie" (Rick Moranis and Dave Morris) on their album Great White North.
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" by Bob & Doug McKenzie:
The meaning behind the gifts of the the twelve days has been variously interpreted. Religious meanings can be parsed, but the true meanings seem to have been lost over the years. The song follows a culminating pattern, with each verse building on earlier verses. The time signature varies throughout each verse and through the song, creating a sense of action in the final verses.
Several versions of the lyrics to "The Twelve Days of Christmas" exist. In the most common version, the lyrics to the final verse read: On the twelfth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me: "On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me/Twelve Drummers Drumming/ Eleven Pipers Piping/ Ten Lords a Leaping/ Nine Ladies Dancing/ Eight Maids a Milking/ Seven Swans a Swimming/ Six Geese a Laying/ Five Golden Rings/ Four Calling Birds/ Three French Hens/ Two Turtle Doves/ and a Partridge in a Pear Tree." In the United States, the first line is more commonly "my true love gave to me." (Full lyrics below.)
The song has been recorded by numerous artists in varied styles.
Here is a video of a recording of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by Tennessee Ernie Ford:
There are almost as many spoof versions as real versions. My favorite is a 1981 version by "Bob and Doug McKenzie" (Rick Moranis and Dave Morris) on their album Great White North.
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" by Bob & Doug McKenzie:
Lyrics to "The Twelve Days of Christmas"
On the first day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the second day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the third day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the fourth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the fifth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the sixth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the seventh day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the eighth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the ninth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the tenth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Ten Lords a Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the eleventh day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Eleven Pipers Piping
Ten Lords a Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the twelfth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
12 Drummers Drumming
Eleven Pipers Piping
Ten Lords a Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
Monday, November 30, 2009
"Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade
Perhaps the classic Christmas rock song, Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" was recorded and released in 1973. It broke new ground as a hit Christmas song written by a rock group and was the 1973 Christmas #1. Slade were the best-selling rock group of the 1970s in the UK, on the strength of "Merry Xmas Everybody" and five other number one hits. They are best known in the United States as the original performers of "Cum On Feel the Noize," a UK #1 which became a huge U.S. hit for Quiet Riot in 1983.
"Merry Xmas Everybody" was Slade's last major UK hit, but has become a perennial favorite, with its secular, plain-spoken lyrics that successfully capture working-class British Christmas.
Lyrics for "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade
Are you hanging up a stocking on your wall?
It’s the time that every Santa has a ball
Does he ride a red nosed reindeer?
Does he turn up on his sleigh?
Do the fairies keep him sober for a day?
So here it is,
Merry Christmas,
Everybody’s having fun,
Look to the future now
It’s only just begun.
Are you waiting for the family to arrive?
Are you sure you’ve got the room to spare inside?
Does your Granny always tell you
That the old songs are the best,
Then she’s up and rock ‘n’ rollin’ with the rest
So here it is,
Merry Christmas,
Everybody’s having fun,
Look to the future now
It’s only just begun.
What will your daddy do
When he sees your Mama kissin' Santa Claus? Ah ah.
Are you hanging up a stocking on your wall?
Are you hoping that the snow will to start to fall?
Do you ride on down the hillside in a buggy you have made?
When you land upon your head then you’ve been Slade.
So here it is,
Merry Christmas,
Everybody’s having fun,
Look to the future now
It’s only just begun.
Listen and watch video for "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade:
Oasis cover of "Merry Xmas Everybody":
Great YouTube version of Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Fiomily:
Sunday, November 29, 2009
"Mistletoe and Wine"
Popularized by Cliff Richard, this religious-tinged Christmas song was first written as a satirical holiday song and sung by Twiggy in a 1986 TV movie. Richard, a hugely popular singer in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, is known for his public Christianity. He changed the lyrics to better reflect the religious nature of Christmas and recorded his own version of "Mistletoe and Wine" in 1988. It became his 12th #1 single in the UK, was the Christmas #1, and was the best-selling British single of 1988.
Video for "Mistletoe and Wine" by Cliff Richard:
Lyrics to Cliff Richard's "Mistletoe and Wine":
(Jeremy Paul, Leslie Stewart and Keith Strachan)
The child is a king, the carolers sing,
The old has passed, there's a new beginning.
Dreams of Santa, dreams of snow,
Fingers numb, faces aglow.
Christmas time, mistletoe and wine
Children singing Christian rhyme
With logs on the fire and gifts on the tree
A time for rejoicing in all that we see
A time for living, a time for believing
A time for trusting, not deceiving,
Love and laughter and joy ever after,
Ours for the taking, just follow the master.
Christmas time, mistletoe and wine
Children singing Christian rhyme
With logs on the fire and gifts on the tree
A time for rejoicing in all that we see
A time for giving, a time for getting,
A time for forgiving and for forgetting.
Christmas is love, Christmas is peace,
A time for hating and fighting to cease.
Christmas time, mistletoe and wine
Children singing Christian rhyme
With logs on the fire and gifts on the tree
A time for rejoicing in all that we see
Friday, November 27, 2009
"Must Be Santa" by Bob Dylan
It seems like a while since a truly classic Christmas song came along, and it might be a while longer. But Bob Dylan has taken a shot at it with his new polka-inspired Christmas ditty from his 2009 Christmas In the Heart album. Amazingly, this is his 47th album and Dylan has promised to give his entire royalties in perpetuity to the charity Feeding America. Dylan was born into a Jewish family and had a famous spell as a born-again Christian, but this holiday song is about secular merriment, not religious celebration. It's fun, it's spirited, it's Christmas; a future holiday classic --- we can only hope.
The video for "Must Be Santa" is a delight too: a raucous drunken Christmas party led by a strangely attired Dylan, complete with dancing, fights, bottles thrown, accordion playing, and an appearance by jolly St. Nick himself.
Video for "Must Be Santa" by Bob Dylan:
Lyrics to "Must Be Santa" by Bob Dylan:
Who's got a beard that's long and white?
Santa's got a beard that's long and white
Who comes around on a special night?
Santa comes around on a special night
Special Night, beard that's white
Must be Santa
Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause
Who wears boots and a suit of red?
Santa wears boots and a suit of red
Who wears a long cap on his head?
Santa wears a long cap on his head
Cap on head, suit that's red
Special night, beard that's white
Must be Santa
Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause
Who's got a big red cherry nose?
Santa's got a big red cherry nose
Who laughs this way "Ho, Ho, Ho?
Santa laughs this way "Ho, Ho, Ho"
Ho Ho Ho, cherry nose
Cap on head, suit that's red
Special night, beard that's white
Must be Santa
Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause
Who very soon will come our way?
Santa very soon will come our way
Eight little reindeer pull his sleigh?
Santa's little reindeer pull his sleigh
Reindeer sleigh, come our way
Ho Ho Ho, cherry nose
Cap on head, suit that's red
Special night, beard that's white
Must be Santa
Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen,
Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon,
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen,
Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton
Reindeer sleigh, come our way
Ho Ho Ho, cherry nose
Cap on head, suit that's red
Special night, beard that's white
Must be Santa
Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause
Thursday, November 26, 2009
"Alice's Restaurant Masacree" by Arlo Guthrie
The holiday song, if the holiday is Thanksgiving, "Alice's Restaurant Masacree" (commonly just "Alice's Restaurant") was released on Guthrie's 1967 debut album. "Alice's Restaurant" is a talking blues song, telling a true story about an incident which happened to the young folk scion on Thanksgiving 1965, when he was arrested for littering in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. As detailed in the song, as a result of his conviction two days later, Guthrie found himself except from military service in Vietnam because of his criminal record. (A situation which inspired to the famous line: "you want to know if I'm moral enough to join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug?")
Guthrie, the son of folk legend Woodie Guthrie, also starred in a 1969 movie based on the song, together with the real-life "villian" of the song, Officer Obie. Because it relates events that happened around a Thanksgiving dinner, "Alice's Restaurant" has become indelibly associated with the holiday and is a mainstay on radio stations on that day.
------------------------------------------------------
Lyrics to "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie
This song is called Alice's Restaurant, and it's about Alice, and the restaurant, but Alice's Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant, that's just the name of the song, and that's why I called the song Alice's Restaurant.
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was on - two years ago on Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the restaurant, but Alice doesn't live in the restaurant, she lives in the church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and Fasha the dog. And livin' in the bell tower like that, they got a lot of room downstairs where the pews used to be in. Havin' all that room, seein' as how they took out all the pews, they decided that they didn't have to take out their garbage for a long time.
We got up there, we found all the garbage in there, and we decided it'd be a friendly gesture for us to take the garbage down to the city dump. So we took the half a ton of garbage, put it in the back of a red VW microbus, took shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed on toward the city dump.
Well we got there and there was a big sign and a chain across across the
dump saying, "Closed on Thanksgiving." And we had never heard of a dump
closed on Thanksgiving before, and with tears in our eyes we drove off
into the sunset looking for another place to put the garbage.
We didn't find one. Until we came to a side road, and off the side of the
side road there was another fifteen foot cliff and at the bottom of the
cliff there was another pile of garbage. And we decided that one big pile
is better than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up we
decided to throw our's down.
That's what we did, and drove back to the church, had a thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, went to sleep and didn't get up until the next morning, when we got a phone call from officer Obie. He said, "Kid, we found your name on an envelope at the bottom of a half a ton of garbage, and just wanted to know if you had any information about it." And I said, "Yes, sir, Officer Obie, I cannot tell a lie, I put that envelope under that garbage."
After speaking to Obie for about fourty-five minutes on the telephone we finally arrived at the truth of the matter and said that we had to go down and pick up the garbage, and also had to go down and speak to him at the police officer's station. So we got in the red VW microbus with the shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed on toward the police officer's station.
Now friends, there was only one or two things that Obie coulda done at the police station, and the first was he could have given us a medal for being so brave and honest on the telephone, which wasn't very likely, and we didn't expect it, and the other thing was he could have bawled us out and told us never to be see driving garbage around the vicinity again, which is what we expected, but when we got to the police officer's station there was a third possibility that we hadn't even counted upon, and we was both immediately arrested. Handcuffed. And I said "Obie, I don't think I can pick up the garbage with these handcuffs on." He said, "Shut up, kid.
Get in the back of the patrol car."
And that's what we did, sat in the back of the patrol car and drove to the quote Scene of the Crime unquote. I want tell you about the town of Stockbridge, Massachusets, where this happened here, they got three stop signs, two police officers, and one police car, but when we got to the Scene of the Crime there was five police officers and three police cars, being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to get in the newspaper story about it. And they was using up all kinds of cop equipment that they had hanging around the police officer's station. They was taking plaster tire tracks, foot prints, dog smelling prints, and they took twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. Took pictures of the approach, the getaway, the northwest corner the southwest corner and that's not to mention the aerial photography.
After the ordeal, we went back to the jail. Obie said he was going to put us in the cell. Said, "Kid, I'm going to put you in the cell, I want your wallet and your belt." And I said, "Obie, I can understand you wanting my wallet so I don't have any money to spend in the cell, but what do you want my belt for?" And he said, "Kid, we don't want any hangings." I said, "Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?" Obie said he was making sure, and friends Obie was, cause he took out the toilet seat so I couldn't hit myself over the head and drown, and he took out the toilet paper so I couldn't bend the bars roll out the - roll the toilet paper out the window, slide down the roll and have an escape. Obie was making sure, and it was about four or five hours later that Alice (remember Alice? It's a song about Alice), Alice came by and with a few nasty words to Obie on the side, bailed us out of jail, and we went back to the church, had a another thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, and didn't get up until the next morning, when we all had to go to court.
We walked in, sat down, Obie came in with the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one, sat down. Man came in said, "All rise." We all stood up, and Obie stood up with the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures, and the judge walked in sat down with a seeing eye dog, and he sat down, we sat down. Obie looked at the seeing eye dog, and then at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one, and looked at the seeing eye dog. And then at twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one and began to cry, 'cause Obie came to the realization that it was a typical case of American blind justice, and there wasn't nothing he could do about it, and the judge wasn't going to look at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. And we was fined $50 and had to pick up the garbage in the snow, but thats not what I came to tell you about.
Came to talk about the draft.
They got a building down New York City, it's called Whitehall Street, where you walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected and selected. I went down to get my physical examination one day, and I walked in, I sat down, got good and drunk the night before, so I looked and felt my best when I went in that morning. `Cause I wanted to look like the all-American kid from New York City, man I wanted, I wanted to feel like the all-, I wanted to be the all American kid from New York, and I walked in, sat down, I was hung down, brung down, hung up, and all kinds o' mean nasty ugly things. And I waked in and sat down and they gave me a piece of paper, said, "Kid, see the phsychiatrist, room 604."
And I went up there, I said, "Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill, KILL, KILL." And I started jumpin up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL," and he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL." And the sargent came over, pinned a medal on me, sent me down the hall, said, "You're our boy."
Didn't feel too good about it.
Proceeded on down the hall gettin more injections, inspections, detections, neglections and all kinds of stuff that they was doin' to me at the thing there, and I was there for two hours, three hours, four hours, I was there for a long time going through all kinds of mean nasty ugly things and I was just having a tough time there, and they was inspecting, injecting every single part of me, and they was leaving no part untouched. Proceeded through, and when I finally came to the see the last man, I walked in, walked in sat down after a whole big thing there, and I walked up and said, "What do you want?" He said, "Kid, we only got one question. Have you ever been arrested?"
And I proceeded to tell him the story of the Alice's Restaurant Massacre, with full orchestration and five part harmony and stuff like that and all the phenome... - and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, did you ever go to court?"
And I proceeded to tell him the story of the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and the paragraph on the back of each one, and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, I want you to go and sit down on that bench that says Group W .... NOW kid!!"
And I, I walked over to the, to the bench there, and there is, Group W's where they put you if you may not be moral enough to join the army after committing your special crime, and there was all kinds of mean nasty ugly looking people on the bench there. Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father rapers! Father rapers sitting right there on the bench next to me! And they was mean and nasty and ugly and horrible crime-type guys sitting on the bench next to me. And the meanest, ugliest, nastiest one, the meanest father raper of them all, was coming over to me and he was mean 'n' ugly
'n' nasty 'n' horrible and all kind of things and he sat down next to me and said, "Kid, whad'ya get?" I said, "I didn't get nothing, I had to pay $50 and pick up the garbage." He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?" And I said, "Littering." And they all moved away from me on the bench there, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I said, "And creating a nuisance." And they all came back, shook my hand, and we had a great time on the bench, talkin about crime, mother stabbing, father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the
bench. And everything was fine, we was smoking cigarettes and all kinds of things, until the Sargeant came over, had some paper in his hand, held it up and said.
"Kids, this-piece-of-paper's-got-47-words-37-sentences-58-words-we-wanna-know-details-of-the-crime-time-of-the-crime-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say-pertaining-to-and-about-the-crime-I-want-to-know-arresting-officer's-name-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say", and talked for forty-five minutes and nobody understood a word that he said, but we had fun filling out the forms and playing with the pencils on the bench there, and I filled out the massacre with the four part harmony, and wrote it down there, just like it was, and everything was fine and I put down the pencil, and I turned over the piece of paper, and there, there on the other side, in the middle of the other side, away from everything else on the other side, in parentheses, capital letters, quotated, read the following words:
"KID, HAVE YOU REHABILITATED YOURSELF?"
I went over to the sargent, said, "Sargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to ask me if I've rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I'm sittin' here on the bench, I mean I'm sittin here on the Group W bench 'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug." He looked at me and said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send you fingerprints off to Washington."
And friends, somewhere in Washington enshrined in some little folder, is a study in black and white of my fingerprints. And the only reason I'm singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if your in a situation like that there's only one thing you can do and that's walk into the shrink wherever you are ,just walk in say "Shrink, You can get
anything you want, at Alice's restaurant.". And walk out. You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them. And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. And friends they may thinks it's a movement.
And that's what it is , the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it come's around on the guitar.
With feeling. So we'll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and sing it when it does. Here it comes.
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
That was horrible. If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud. I've been singing this song now for twenty five minutes. I could sing it for another twenty five minutes. I'm not proud... or tired.
So we'll wait till it comes around again, and this time with four part harmony and feeling.
We're just waitin' for it to come around is what we're doing.
All right now.
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Excepting Alice
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Da da da da da da da dum
At Alice's Restaurant
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Lyrics to "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie
This song is called Alice's Restaurant, and it's about Alice, and the restaurant, but Alice's Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant, that's just the name of the song, and that's why I called the song Alice's Restaurant.
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was on - two years ago on Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the restaurant, but Alice doesn't live in the restaurant, she lives in the church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and Fasha the dog. And livin' in the bell tower like that, they got a lot of room downstairs where the pews used to be in. Havin' all that room, seein' as how they took out all the pews, they decided that they didn't have to take out their garbage for a long time.
We got up there, we found all the garbage in there, and we decided it'd be a friendly gesture for us to take the garbage down to the city dump. So we took the half a ton of garbage, put it in the back of a red VW microbus, took shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed on toward the city dump.
Well we got there and there was a big sign and a chain across across the
dump saying, "Closed on Thanksgiving." And we had never heard of a dump
closed on Thanksgiving before, and with tears in our eyes we drove off
into the sunset looking for another place to put the garbage.
We didn't find one. Until we came to a side road, and off the side of the
side road there was another fifteen foot cliff and at the bottom of the
cliff there was another pile of garbage. And we decided that one big pile
is better than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up we
decided to throw our's down.
That's what we did, and drove back to the church, had a thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, went to sleep and didn't get up until the next morning, when we got a phone call from officer Obie. He said, "Kid, we found your name on an envelope at the bottom of a half a ton of garbage, and just wanted to know if you had any information about it." And I said, "Yes, sir, Officer Obie, I cannot tell a lie, I put that envelope under that garbage."
After speaking to Obie for about fourty-five minutes on the telephone we finally arrived at the truth of the matter and said that we had to go down and pick up the garbage, and also had to go down and speak to him at the police officer's station. So we got in the red VW microbus with the shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed on toward the police officer's station.
Now friends, there was only one or two things that Obie coulda done at the police station, and the first was he could have given us a medal for being so brave and honest on the telephone, which wasn't very likely, and we didn't expect it, and the other thing was he could have bawled us out and told us never to be see driving garbage around the vicinity again, which is what we expected, but when we got to the police officer's station there was a third possibility that we hadn't even counted upon, and we was both immediately arrested. Handcuffed. And I said "Obie, I don't think I can pick up the garbage with these handcuffs on." He said, "Shut up, kid.
Get in the back of the patrol car."
And that's what we did, sat in the back of the patrol car and drove to the quote Scene of the Crime unquote. I want tell you about the town of Stockbridge, Massachusets, where this happened here, they got three stop signs, two police officers, and one police car, but when we got to the Scene of the Crime there was five police officers and three police cars, being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to get in the newspaper story about it. And they was using up all kinds of cop equipment that they had hanging around the police officer's station. They was taking plaster tire tracks, foot prints, dog smelling prints, and they took twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. Took pictures of the approach, the getaway, the northwest corner the southwest corner and that's not to mention the aerial photography.
After the ordeal, we went back to the jail. Obie said he was going to put us in the cell. Said, "Kid, I'm going to put you in the cell, I want your wallet and your belt." And I said, "Obie, I can understand you wanting my wallet so I don't have any money to spend in the cell, but what do you want my belt for?" And he said, "Kid, we don't want any hangings." I said, "Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?" Obie said he was making sure, and friends Obie was, cause he took out the toilet seat so I couldn't hit myself over the head and drown, and he took out the toilet paper so I couldn't bend the bars roll out the - roll the toilet paper out the window, slide down the roll and have an escape. Obie was making sure, and it was about four or five hours later that Alice (remember Alice? It's a song about Alice), Alice came by and with a few nasty words to Obie on the side, bailed us out of jail, and we went back to the church, had a another thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, and didn't get up until the next morning, when we all had to go to court.
We walked in, sat down, Obie came in with the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one, sat down. Man came in said, "All rise." We all stood up, and Obie stood up with the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures, and the judge walked in sat down with a seeing eye dog, and he sat down, we sat down. Obie looked at the seeing eye dog, and then at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one, and looked at the seeing eye dog. And then at twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one and began to cry, 'cause Obie came to the realization that it was a typical case of American blind justice, and there wasn't nothing he could do about it, and the judge wasn't going to look at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. And we was fined $50 and had to pick up the garbage in the snow, but thats not what I came to tell you about.
Came to talk about the draft.
They got a building down New York City, it's called Whitehall Street, where you walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected and selected. I went down to get my physical examination one day, and I walked in, I sat down, got good and drunk the night before, so I looked and felt my best when I went in that morning. `Cause I wanted to look like the all-American kid from New York City, man I wanted, I wanted to feel like the all-, I wanted to be the all American kid from New York, and I walked in, sat down, I was hung down, brung down, hung up, and all kinds o' mean nasty ugly things. And I waked in and sat down and they gave me a piece of paper, said, "Kid, see the phsychiatrist, room 604."
And I went up there, I said, "Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill, KILL, KILL." And I started jumpin up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL," and he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL." And the sargent came over, pinned a medal on me, sent me down the hall, said, "You're our boy."
Didn't feel too good about it.
Proceeded on down the hall gettin more injections, inspections, detections, neglections and all kinds of stuff that they was doin' to me at the thing there, and I was there for two hours, three hours, four hours, I was there for a long time going through all kinds of mean nasty ugly things and I was just having a tough time there, and they was inspecting, injecting every single part of me, and they was leaving no part untouched. Proceeded through, and when I finally came to the see the last man, I walked in, walked in sat down after a whole big thing there, and I walked up and said, "What do you want?" He said, "Kid, we only got one question. Have you ever been arrested?"
And I proceeded to tell him the story of the Alice's Restaurant Massacre, with full orchestration and five part harmony and stuff like that and all the phenome... - and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, did you ever go to court?"
And I proceeded to tell him the story of the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and the paragraph on the back of each one, and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, I want you to go and sit down on that bench that says Group W .... NOW kid!!"
And I, I walked over to the, to the bench there, and there is, Group W's where they put you if you may not be moral enough to join the army after committing your special crime, and there was all kinds of mean nasty ugly looking people on the bench there. Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father rapers! Father rapers sitting right there on the bench next to me! And they was mean and nasty and ugly and horrible crime-type guys sitting on the bench next to me. And the meanest, ugliest, nastiest one, the meanest father raper of them all, was coming over to me and he was mean 'n' ugly
'n' nasty 'n' horrible and all kind of things and he sat down next to me and said, "Kid, whad'ya get?" I said, "I didn't get nothing, I had to pay $50 and pick up the garbage." He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?" And I said, "Littering." And they all moved away from me on the bench there, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I said, "And creating a nuisance." And they all came back, shook my hand, and we had a great time on the bench, talkin about crime, mother stabbing, father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the
bench. And everything was fine, we was smoking cigarettes and all kinds of things, until the Sargeant came over, had some paper in his hand, held it up and said.
"Kids, this-piece-of-paper's-got-47-words-37-sentences-58-words-we-wanna-know-details-of-the-crime-time-of-the-crime-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say-pertaining-to-and-about-the-crime-I-want-to-know-arresting-officer's-name-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say", and talked for forty-five minutes and nobody understood a word that he said, but we had fun filling out the forms and playing with the pencils on the bench there, and I filled out the massacre with the four part harmony, and wrote it down there, just like it was, and everything was fine and I put down the pencil, and I turned over the piece of paper, and there, there on the other side, in the middle of the other side, away from everything else on the other side, in parentheses, capital letters, quotated, read the following words:
"KID, HAVE YOU REHABILITATED YOURSELF?"
I went over to the sargent, said, "Sargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to ask me if I've rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I'm sittin' here on the bench, I mean I'm sittin here on the Group W bench 'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug." He looked at me and said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send you fingerprints off to Washington."
And friends, somewhere in Washington enshrined in some little folder, is a study in black and white of my fingerprints. And the only reason I'm singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if your in a situation like that there's only one thing you can do and that's walk into the shrink wherever you are ,just walk in say "Shrink, You can get
anything you want, at Alice's restaurant.". And walk out. You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them. And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. And friends they may thinks it's a movement.
And that's what it is , the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it come's around on the guitar.
With feeling. So we'll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and sing it when it does. Here it comes.
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
That was horrible. If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud. I've been singing this song now for twenty five minutes. I could sing it for another twenty five minutes. I'm not proud... or tired.
So we'll wait till it comes around again, and this time with four part harmony and feeling.
We're just waitin' for it to come around is what we're doing.
All right now.
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Excepting Alice
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Da da da da da da da dum
At Alice's Restaurant
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Great illustrated video for "Alice's Restaurant"
2005 performance of "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie
Scene from the 1969 movie "Alice's Restaurant"
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Band, "Christmas Must Be Tonight"
This somewhat lesser-known Christmas song deserves to be a holiday standard. Written by Robbie Robertson and released on the 1977 album Islands, this is a truly classic Christmas song, with lyrics inspired by the Bible story, not a commercial re-imagining of the holiday. As with any song by this great Canadian-American folk group, the lyrics and recording seem heartfelt and honest; Robbie Robertson and co. have succeeded in bringing down-to-earth humanity to a transcendent story.
An alternate version was released as a bonus track for the 2001 remastering of The Band's 1975 album Northern Lights - Southern Cross.
Lyrics to "Christmas Must Be Tonight" by The Band
Come down to the manger, see the little stranger
Wrapped in swaddling clothes, the prince of peace
Wheels start turning, torches start burning
And the old wise men journey from the East
How a little baby boy bring the people so much joy
Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light
This must be Christmas, must be tonight
A shepherd on a hillside, while over my flock I bide
Oh a cold winter night a band of angels sing
In a dream I heard a voice saying "fear not, come rejoice
It's the end of the beginning, praise the new born king"
How a little baby boy bring the people so much joy
Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light
This must be Christmas, must be tonight
I saw it with my own eyes, written up in the skies
But why a simple herdsmen such as I
And then it came to pass, he was born at last
Right below the star that shines on high
How a little baby boy bring the people so much joy
Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light
This must be Christmas, must be tonight
Must be tonight
Listen to "Christmas Must Be Tonight" by The Band
Version of "Christmas Must Be Tonight" live by Hall & Oates
Monday, November 23, 2009
"White Christmas" (Irving Berlin) by Bing Crosby
A truly classic Christmas song, this Irving Berlin-penned song has been recorded by dozens of artists, selling over 50 million copies in total (and perhaps many more). The best known and most loved version remains Bing Crosby's original, recorded in 1942 for the movie Holiday Inn and released during the United States' first year of involvement in World War II.
With its nostalgic mix of longing and hope, Berlin's lyrics hit a note with wartime listeners. Crosby's version became a smash hit Christmas song that year and has remained an annual holiday favorite ever since.
"White Christmas" (Irving Berlin) lyrics
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten,
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white
Recordings of "White Christmas"
The original version of "White Christmas" from the movie Holiday Inn, a duet between Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds (actually the dubbed voice of Martha Mears).
Non-movie recording of the Christmas song by Bing Crosby
"White Christmas" sung by Shania Twain
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The Beatles, "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)"
Each year, from 1963 to 1970, the most-loved band in pop music put together an album of Christmas songs, skits, and well-wishes that was sent on a acetate to members of its fan club. The song "Christmas Time" was included on the Beatles 1967 album, "Christmastime is Here Again." It's a cute, fun number in the vein of "Yellow Submarine" or "All Together Now." Despite being composed by the best-selling band of all time, the song remains little-known. It was re-released in December 1995 as a B-side on the four-song single
to "Free As A Bird," the "new" Beatles song recorded to promote the anthology project. Holiday greetings from other Beatles Christmas fan albums were edited onto the end of the song.Christmas Time (Is Here Again) Lyrics
(Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey)
Christmas time is here again
Christmas time is here again
Christmas time is here again
Christmas time is here again
Ain't been round since you know when
Christmas time is here again
O-U-T spells "out"
Christmas time is here again
Christmas time is here again
Christmas time is here again
Christmas time is here again
(...And Christmas time is all,
and your bonnie clay us through.
Happy breastling to you people
all out best from me to you.
When the beasty brangom button
to the heather and little inn.
And be strattened oot in matether
to yer arms once back again.
Och away, ye bonnie.)
Recordings: Animated version of Christmas Time (Is Here Again) from the Free as a Bird Single.
Ringo Starr's solo version of Christmas Time (Is Here Again)
Full version of Christmas Time (Is Here Again) from the original 1967 fan album
Monday, November 16, 2009
Silent Night
Let's start with a classic Christmas Song: "Silent Night." Originally written in German as "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht" by Josef Mohr (words) and Franz Xaber Gruber (melody), it was translated into English in 1859 by John Freeman Young and has become a much-loved Christmas standard for carolers and pop artists.
(English-language) Lyrics for "Silent Night"
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Saviour is born
Christ, the Saviour is born
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
(German-language) Lyrics for "Stille nacht"
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Hirten erst kundgemacht
Durch der Engel Halleluja,
Tönt es laut von fern und nah:
Christ, der Retter ist da!
Christ, der Retter ist da!
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht
Lieb' aus deinem göttlichen Mund,
Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund'.
Christ, in deiner Geburt!
Christ, in deiner Geburt!
Recordings: My favorite version is the anti-war lullaby, "Silent Night/7 O'Clock News" recorded by folk-rock duo Simon and Garfunkel
for their 1966 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
, which juxtaposed this lovely melody with a real recording of a 1960s news broadcast read by Charlie O'Donnell. See below:Or try this humorous version done by the Ween
"brothers" of New Hope, PA, in the style of a Yiddish-speaking Jewish American:Or try this classic version by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
of Salt Lake City, Utah.Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Christmas Holiday Songs
Blog of my favorite Christmas and holiday songs, both carols and pop, sure to be updated more around the holiday season. Entries will include song lyrics, perhaps music chords, and links to good versions of the songs in question. Merry Christmas.
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