Christmas Music Already

[hotdogPi]

I'm playing Wheel of Fortune and I spin the wheel
No part of this current puzzle is revealed
The wheel lands on 5,000 when it comes to rest
I call the letter L and hope for the best
No L, no L, no L, no L
I really thought I was doing so well

[roadman65]

Does anyone know what those lines in Verse 3 of Santa Claus Is ComingTo Town saying " Rooty Toot Toot and Rummy Tum Tum means?

[Rothman]

Does anyone know what those lines in Verse 3 of Santa Claus Is ComingTo Town saying " Rooty Toot Toot and Rummy Tum Tum means?

Onomatopoeia.

[Henry]

Does anyone know what those lines in Verse 3 of Santa Claus Is ComingTo Town saying " Rooty Toot Toot and Rummy Tum Tum means?

Onomatopoeia.

I used to wonder the same thing about the "pa-rum-pa-pum-pum" lyric in The Little Drummer Boy.

[Scott5114]

A thing that bothers me is the recent inclusion of certain songs which are not Christmas music in Christmas playlists:

• "Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi: Guaraldi scored a half-dozen Peanuts specials and some arrangement of "Linus and Lucy" appeared in every single one of them. It's no more Christmas music for appearing in the Peanuts Christmas special than it is Halloween music for appearing in the Halloween special.
• "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music: Snowflakes are mentioned, and some of the favorite things are vaguely winter-themed, like bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, and the brown paper packages tied in string could conceivably be Christmas presents. It's hard to see how raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens are, though, and winter explicitly melting into spring is very much not a Christmas thing.
• Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D: What? I heard this tucked in between two Christmas songs at a Whataburger the other day. Is all classical music considered Christmas music now? Can we start getting the 1812 Overture and the Galop from Orpheus in the Underworld in our Christmas playlists then?

[hotdogPi]

• Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D: What? I heard this tucked in between two Christmas songs at a Whataburger the other day. Is all classical music considered Christmas music now? Can we start getting the 1812 Overture and the Galop from Orpheus in the Underworld in our Christmas playlists then?

There's something called Christmas Canon. Are you sure you heard the original classical piece? (There is some instrumental part in Christmas Canon, but if you heard no singing for over one minute continuously, you heard the actual Pachelbel Canon.)

That said, I'm annoyed by My Favorite Things being included, too.

[Scott5114]

No, what I heard was straight up Canon in D, with no vocals at all. (It's a piece that means a lot to me because it's one of my grandmother's favorite songs to play on the piano and thus always makes me think of her when I hear it, so I'm going to be pretty damn irritated if it gets watered down into a generic Christmas song.)

[Big John]

One non-Christmas song played only at Christmas time-  Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg.

[Rothman]

A thing that bothers me is the recent inclusion of certain songs which are not Christmas music in Christmas playlists:

• "Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi: Guaraldi scored a half-dozen Peanuts specials and some arrangement of "Linus and Lucy" appeared in every single one of them. It's no more Christmas music for appearing in the Peanuts Christmas special than it is Halloween music for appearing in the Halloween special.
• "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music: Snowflakes are mentioned, and some of the favorite things are vaguely winter-themed, like bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, and the brown paper packages tied in string could conceivably be Christmas presents. It's hard to see how raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens are, though, and winter explicitly melting into spring is very much not a Christmas thing.
• Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D: What? I heard this tucked in between two Christmas songs at a Whataburger the other day. Is all classical music considered Christmas music now? Can we start getting the 1812 Overture and the Galop from Orpheus in the Underworld in our Christmas playlists then?

Linus and Lucy's first use was in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

[webny99]

No, what I heard was straight up Canon in D, with no vocals at all. (It's a piece that means a lot to me because it's one of my grandmother's favorite songs to play on the piano and thus always makes me think of her when I hear it, so I'm going to be pretty damn irritated if it gets watered down into a generic Christmas song.)

Crazy, I used to listen to Canon in D on my grandparents' keyboard, so it brings back memories for me as well. I certainly don't think of it as a holiday song in any form or fashion. Might as well take the opportunity to link to it here. 1:55 still gives me chills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptk_1Dc2iPY

[Scott5114]

Linus and Lucy's first use was in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

First use in a film–it was commissioned for a 1963 Charlie Brown documentary that was never released, and its first public release was on the Guaraldi album Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, containing all of the music he was commissioned to do for the documentary. A Charlie Brown Christmas wasn't released until the year after that album came out.

[Rothman]

Linus and Lucy's first use was in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

First use in a film–it was commissioned for a 1963 Charlie Brown documentary that was never released, and its first public release was on the Guaraldi album Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, containing all of the music he was commissioned to do for the documentary. A Charlie Brown Christmas wasn't released until the year after that album came out.

Psst:  No one cared about the album and people associate it with the cartoon that entered into the American zeitgeist.

[Scott5114]

Linus and Lucy's first use was in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

First use in a film–it was commissioned for a 1963 Charlie Brown documentary that was never released, and its first public release was on the Guaraldi album Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, containing all of the music he was commissioned to do for the documentary. A Charlie Brown Christmas wasn't released until the year after that album came out.

Psst:  No one cared about the album and people associate it with the cartoon that entered into the American zeitgeist.

Psssst: I'm saying they're wrong to do so.

(Personally, I like Vince Guaraldi more than I like Peanuts, so...)

[formulanone]

A thing that bothers me is the recent inclusion of certain songs which are not Christmas music in Christmas playlists:

• "Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi: Guaraldi scored a half-dozen Peanuts specials and some arrangement of "Linus and Lucy" appeared in every single one of them. It's no more Christmas music for appearing in the Peanuts Christmas special than it is Halloween music for appearing in the Halloween special.
• "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music: Snowflakes are mentioned, and some of the favorite things are vaguely winter-themed, like bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, and the brown paper packages tied in string could conceivably be Christmas presents. It's hard to see how raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens are, though, and winter explicitly melting into spring is very much not a Christmas thing.
• Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D: What? I heard this tucked in between two Christmas songs at a Whataburger the other day. Is all classical music considered Christmas music now? Can we start getting the 1812 Overture and the Galop from Orpheus in the Underworld in our Christmas playlists then?

I'm alright with a few songs that bend the rules. So many holiday traditions have shape-shifted and transformed from other practices over the centuries, so I'm okay with a holiday-themed instrumental popping into the mix every so often.

If people can swear that Die Hard is a Christmas movie, then by golly, the upbeat ditty that also graced a Christmas Special can get the nod until the next shiny thing comes along for inclusion.

[Rothman]

Linus and Lucy's first use was in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

First use in a film–it was commissioned for a 1963 Charlie Brown documentary that was never released, and its first public release was on the Guaraldi album Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown, containing all of the music he was commissioned to do for the documentary. A Charlie Brown Christmas wasn't released until the year after that album came out.

Psst:  No one cared about the album and people associate it with the cartoon that entered into the American zeitgeist.

Psssst: I'm saying they're wrong to do so.

(Personally, I like Vince Guaraldi more than I like Peanuts, so...)

Psssssssssst:  Popular opinion cannot be wrong.  It is a tune that is associated with the Christmas Special, no matter the existence of an obscure album.

Tilt at those windmills, Don Quixote.

[Scott5114]

Popular opinion cannot be wrong. [...]

Tilt at those windmills, Don Quixote.

Three words: Interstate Maintenance funding.

Or if that's too obscure to count as "popular opinion", how about the one mile in five rule for Interstates?

Or, hell, any time the public elects a politician you don't like?

[hbelkins]

There are a number of songs you hear only at Christmas that could be categorized more broadly as winter songs, not Christmas songs.

"Jingle Bells" and "Frosty The Snowman" are two I can think of right away.

[formulanone]

"Frosty The Snowman"

Eh, that's quite an allegorical song.

[kurumi]

"Frosty The Snowman"

Eh, that's quite an allegorical song.

There's a great little horror tale about two kids walking to church who find the hat by itself on the ground. They recognize it looks like Frosty's hat but aren't convinced the magic is real. But they're already in trouble for being late, so there isn't much time to discuss it.

They arrive at the funeral and the boy drops the hat in Grandpa's casket. It works. Now they're in trouble.

[adventurernumber1]

Speaking of songs unrelated to Christmas, I have heard "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" from the movie Frozen played very often on the radio. It sounds completely out of place compared to the Christmas standards it's sandwiched between.     

[SectorZ]

Does anything play The Waitresses one Christmas song anymore?

I thought of it just because I heard their one non-Christmas song on XM recently.

[1995hoo]

Does anything play The Waitresses one Christmas song anymore?

I thought of it just because I heard their one non-Christmas song on XM recently.

I heard that on BBC Radio One a while ago.

[hbelkins]

Two more that are not really Christmas songs that you hear only at Christmas.

"Winter Wonderland" and "Baby It's Cold Outside." I'm surprised that any stations still play that last one since it's not politically correct anymore.

[tolbs17]

Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock...

I don't know the rest of the lyrics...

[vdeane]

"Frosty The Snowman"

Eh, that's quite an allegorical song.

There's a great little horror tale about two kids walking to church who find the hat by itself on the ground. They recognize it looks like Frosty's hat but aren't convinced the magic is real. But they're already in trouble for being late, so there isn't much time to discuss it.

They arrive at the funeral and the boy drops the hat in Grandpa's casket. It works. Now they're in trouble.

That sounds like an interesting story.  Does the hat do bad things when it's used on a corpse rather than a snowman?  Because the alternative would seem to be that someone was upset that Grandpa was alive again.