MLB.com asked Major League Baseball players for their favorite holiday songs, and in Barry Zito’s case, there could be only one at the top of the charts. The Giants’ pitcher is listening again to Nat King Cole’s time-honored classic, The Christmas Song.
“We listened to it my whole life,” Zito said, “and it is the most warm and nostalgic version of any song for me because he was my dad’s best friend.”
...Explaining his choice of White Christmas, Reds reliever Sam LeCure said: “The person I like singing it is Elvis Presley and the Jordanaires. It’s like a gospel group singing. I like how they do ‘White Christmas.’ I got that CD the other day.”
... Finally, we have this exchange between Indians rookie reliever Cody Allen and MLB.com Indians beat reporter Jordan Bastian:
Do you have a favorite Christmas song?
“That’s a tough one, because I honestly don’t like Christmas music. I mean, I like Christmas, but I don’t like Christmas music. Probably the only one I can bear is the Alvin & The Chipmunks Christmas tape. Remember that one?”
You don’t like Christmas music, but you like The Chipmunks’ songs?
(Laughing) “I was young, man. I was little. That was funny to me! All the other ones, I didn’t like. Actually, Jeff Foxworthy’s song, Redneck 12 Days of Christmas. That one is pretty good.”
Repoz
Posted: December 19, 2012 at 07:46 AM |
114 comment(s)
Login to Bookmark
Tags:
music
Reader Comments and Retorts
Go to end of page
Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.
I think if I had to choose just one carol to sing, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas might be it.
This is probably the first image that pops into my head when I hear the song. At the time, I didn't perceive them as gay, I just thought it was cheesy, which added to my general dislike of the song. My other image is probably generic American Bandstand dancing to the Brenda Lee version.
Some of my local favorites were playing for free outside the Corcoran Gallery when who should turn up to play for free as well but John Oates.
Judy Garland sang Over the Rainbow on her 1963 Christmas special. When you're used to seeing it sung by a girl in dead-end Kansas, seeing it sung by a woman in what looks like furs is a bit incongruous,
3 ounces brandy
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
2 teaspoons heavy cream (optional)
1/2 cup crushed ice
Nutmeg
Combine all ingredients except the nutmeg in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into a 5-ounce stemmed glass, and grate a little nutmeg on top.
For your holiday enjoyment; apparently flips are no longer served hot, I suppose this is a result of not having fireplace pokers readily to hand.
That was probably more their intent, yes.
The jokes write themselves, really. Did The Other Guy From Wham show up too?
I checked this against the Bobby Rydell-Chubby Checker version. It has every indicia of suckiness, and yet remains undeniably bouncy.
When I was younger, we used to do "And the Glory of the Lord" from the Messiah every year, at least once; that's the easiest piece to sing, and I don't think the director trusted us to do anything else :) I still have the tenor and bass parts of that stuck in my memory. I've only been in a choral performance of the "Hallelujah Chorus" once, and it was one of the more miserable efforts in which I ever participated. My daughter was in a kids version of the Messiah when she was in eighth grade - it was scaled back and simplified quite a bit, of course, but whoever arranged it (and I don't remember who did) did a really good job of keeping the spirit of the original while adapting it to younger musicians.
-- MWE
That's kind of an odd duck. Today, it's something of an uplifting family Christmas thought, but when Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin wrote it, it was a rather bitter, sardonic song, written for a specific plot point in "Meet Me in St. Louis." It comes just as the Smith family learns, at Christmas, that it will be uprooted from the paradise that is St. Louis' Central West End and relocated in big, bad New York City. It's a sad moment in the film.
Originally, Blane wrote the opening lyric, "Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last." Vincent Minnelli put his foot down and said the song couldn't be THAT dark. Other changes have been made over the years to turn the song around. For example, the original "in a year, our troubles will be out of sight" became, in some versions, "from now on, our troubles will be out of sight." The line "until then we'll have to muddle through somehow" became "Hang a shining star upon the highest bough."
Basically, over the years the song got stood on its head, the "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" for an earlier generation.
Oh yeah, I know. I like the sadness. What are the holidays without bitterness, tears, and regret? Come on!
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.
<< Back to main