I thought how as the day had come
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of “Peace on Earth, good will to men!”

And in despair, I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said.
For hate is strong
And mocks the song
Of “Peace on Earth, good will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep
“God is not dead nor doth he sleep!”
The wrong shall fail
The right prevail
With “Peace on Earth, good will to men!”

Till ringing singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day!
A voice, a chime
A chant sublime!
Of “Peace on Earth, good will to men!”

(words by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, of course!)

But we all know that story, so it seems appropriate to hear the song among Christmas music. It’s funny how often this can happen.

If you’re a fan of The Sopranos, you know that one of the characters’ nicknames is Big Pussy, usually shortened to just Pussy. So thinking of the show, you might find yourself talking about things that happen, saying “pussy” a lot, and someone overhearing this who’s not familiar with the show might be like “what?!” I’ve had that happen a couple times!

One popular and of course overplayed song is Elton John’s “Step Into Christmas”. Not bad.

Then I noticed something about the song I never noticed before.

The first line of the song is… “Welcome to my Christmas song!”

…

Um, thanks, Elton! I guess.

You see, that’s the kind of lyrics that really makes you think.

Even if just thinking he should go back to Chef for more help with them.

It’s always a little sad. The festive songs get put away until next November and they’re back to the normal work-safe light rock and pop stuff. No more Sleigh Ride. No more Silver Bells. No more Winter Wonderland. No more Frosty the Snowman. Sigh.

But of course, there are the ones I will not miss. Namely, ones I’ve ranted about before. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (especially that obnoxious Perry Como version!). And others.

And… The Christmas Shoes.

Yeah, you know the one I mean. About the guy in line to buy presents who’s in a Charlie-Brown-ish “what’s the point?” mindset, and a boy in front of him is trying to buy shoes for his dying mother.

I mean, I get the point of the song, but it’s just so over-the-top cutesy. The singer sounds like he’s in tears through the whole thing, for one. And the bit about the boy being dirty and wearing old clothes? Not sure what that’s about. Implying he’s poor or isn’t being well taken care of? Then the reason he’s buying the shoes. Yes, they’ll make her smile. That is the reason for buying any gift. But also that he wants her to look beautiful if she “meets Jesus tonight”. Which is just their cute “innocent” little child-like way of saying she’ll die on Christmas Eve.

But it’s okay! She has some shoes her son gave her only after a kind stranger helped him pay for them. They made her smile! But… she still dies. And she won’t have the shoes when she meets Jesus because you don’t take nothin’ with you but your soul. Though she dies having been given them so maybe that’s all that matters.

Then again, the song isn’t so much about the boy and his mother as it is about the guy observing him and helping him pay for the shoes. The Christmas miracle here isn’t so much that the boy’s family was helped out, but that the guy made the boy happy by helping him buy the shoes. And this guy was sure that God sent this boy to remind him what Christmas was about!

The song just sort of hammers that little message, complete with the “if Mama meets Jesus tonight” said by a child that makes adults wet themselves from a cute attack (South Park’s “Ladder to Heaven” anyone?), with such force that it’s rather off-putting. It also reminds me of one of those stupid e-mail forwards I saw several years back, same basic story, of a little boy trying to buy special gifts for his mother and his sister, who had already died, but didn’t have enough money until a kind stranger (narrator) gave it to him. The message being that the mother and sister were killed in a car accident by a drunk driver, so it was one of those “this is what happens when you drink and drive” things.

And, hell, for all the guy knows, the boy probably totally swindled him, didn’t actually have a dying mom but just wanted to get free shoes to then sell on the black market.

Silver bells, silver bells
It’s Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling
Hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas Day!

Strings of street lights
Even stop lights
Blink a bright red and green
And the shoppers rush home with their treasures
Hear the snow crunch
See the kids bunch
This is Santa’s big scene!
And above all this bustle you hear

Silver bells, silver bells
It’s Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling
Hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas Day!

Soon it will be Christmas Day!

Well, almost. There was one teeny tiny thing, back in October when I was first doing the design. I was all set with a lovely design, a green background with some holly on either side of the annual meeting picture! Beautiful. Was ready to show it to the board and await praise. Except… I couldn’t help the feeling it looked too “Christmas only”. What with the red and green, despite not saying Christmas anywhere on it, and being free of Jesus or angels or Santa. So when we met up in the NYRA office around that time, I showed it to Alex, and he thought the card was awesome. I mentioned my concern, though, and he agreed. But, well, Alex and I are lifelong Christians, so we’d be biased, as I said to him. So then Hal showed up at the office, and I asked him, as someone who is Jewish, what he thought of the card. Yeah, he got one look at it and said “no fucking way!” LOL! Alright, can’t use the awesome holly design, so back to the drawing board. My own dumbass fault, really. I’m supposed to be more mindful of it, I guess. It’s alright. I had other choices. My second choice, though, had ornaments on it, and I figured if holly was a no-no, ornaments probably were, too. So I went with my third choice, a blue one with little snowflakes on either side of the bottom of the picture. Averted! And the card is still awesome.

So anyway, since 2007, on the forums, I’ve been posting my own little musical reflection of that holiday card run. Stuff the Cards! Rather unimaginatively on my part, to the tune of Deck the Halls. And here is each one!

2007

Stuff the cards for NYRA members
Fa la la la la, la la la la
It’s what I do each December
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Christmas cheer is why I do this
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Though these names look awfully Jewish
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Told the board about my plan
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Card with collage and a snowman
Fa la la la la, la la la la
To wish our friends a happy new year
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Spread our message with some cheer
Fa la la la la, la la la la

So asked the board to help with this
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Just had to add names to the list
Fa la la la la, la la la la
This all sure did take forever
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
They complied in mid-December!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Last year’s hundred wasn’t too hefty
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Now I ordered two hundred fifty!
Fa la la la la, la la la la
For politicians pro-youth rights
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
And our faithful members, you guys!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

One to Post article writer Linton
Fa la la la la, la la la la
And to Bill and Hillary Clinton
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Recipients sure run the gamut!
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
If you don’t like it, you can cram it
Fa la la la la, la la la la

I sent you a card, my friend
Fa la la la la, la la la la
That is, if I know where to send
Fa la la la la, la la la la
So if there’s not one in your mail
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
That’s because you’re made of fail.
Fa la la la la, la la la la

I sure have worked awfully hard
Fa la la la la, la la la la
To get you your holiday card
Fa la la la la, la la la la
So enjoy your card already
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Or I’ll give your info to Eddy
Fa la la la la, la la la la

If I missed you, don’t shed a tear
Fa la la la la, la la la la
I’ll try to include you next year
Fa la la la la, la la la la
So stay with us, you won’t regret it
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
And the next holiday card, you’ll get it
Fa la la la la, la la la la

2008

Stuff the cards for NYRA members
Fa la la la la, la la la la
That’s what I do each December!
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Christmas cheer is why I do this
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Though these names look awfully Jewish
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Told the board what it would be
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Cake picture next to a tree
Fa la la la la, la la la la
To wish our friends a happy new year
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
NYRAnian joy spread far and near
Fa la la la la, la la la la

So asked the board to help with this
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Just had to add names to the list
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Don’t know why I thought they’d do this
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
I forgot the board is useless!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Last year’s two fifty, it was plenty
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Now I got three hundred twenty!
Fa la la la la, la la la la
For politicians pro-youth rights
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
And our faithful members… you guys!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

To the crew of Jeff Nadel
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Ralph Nader and Ron Paul as well
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Recipients sure run the gamut
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
If you don’t like it, you can cram it!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Do I have your correct address?
Fa la la la la, la la la la
How else will I know where to send?
Fa la la la la, la la la la
So if there’s not one in your mail
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Then, my friend, you’re made of fail
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Alex tried to alter the list
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Holy hell, I was so pissed!
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Scratched his eyes out and all along
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Told him “YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!”
Fa la la la la, la la la la

I sure have worked awfully hard
Fa la la la la, la la la la
To get you your holiday card
Fa la la la la, la la la la
You’d better enjoy your card already
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Or I’ll give your info to Eddy
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Did I miss you? Well don’t you fear!
Fa la la la la, la la la la
I’ll try to include you next year
Fa la la la la, la la la la
So stay with us, you won’t regret it!
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
And next year’s holiday card, you’ll get it!
Fa la la la la, la la la la!

2009

Stuff the cards for NYRA members
Fa la la la la, la la la la
That’s what I do each December
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Christmas cheer is why I do this
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Though most recipients are Jewish.
Fa la la la la, la la la la

The design was fun to make!
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Meeting picture and snowflake
Fa la la la la, la la la la
To wish our friends some joy and cheer
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
To end this amazing year!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Started to make up the list
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Asked the board to add to it
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Holy crap, some actually helped!
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
The awesomeness that’s Jeff Nadel
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Lots of cards to send this season
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Ordered 500 for some reason
Fa la la la la, la la la la
For politicians pro-youth rights
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
And our kickass members… you guys!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

To friendly orgs, I sent a few
Fa la la la la, la la la la
And to all of ZSRU
Fa la la la la, la la la la
And Congressmen who proposed
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Lowering the age to vote.
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Saw a threat to my hopes
Fa la la la la, la la la la
When I ran out of envelopes
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Complained to printer, gave them what for
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
So they send one thousand more!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Need more names! Where are you, Alex?
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Hurry up, Koroknay-Palicz!
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Though you’re busy, I won’t holler
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
WE WON TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

By the 18th, I was done
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Yay! Holiday cards are fun!
Fa la la la la, la la la la
NOW Alex adds names to the slate!
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Sorry, Alex, you’re too late!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

I sent you a card, I guess
Fa la la la la, la la la la
That is if we have your address
Fa la la la la, la la la la
So if there’s not one in your mail
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Then that means you’re made of fail.
Fa la la la la, la la la la

I sure have worked awfully hard
Fa la la la la, la la la la
So enjoy your holiday card
Fa la la la la, la la la la
If not, your info, in a hurry
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Will be on /b/ saying you’re a furry.
Fa la la la la, la la la la

If I missed you, well that’s a shame
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Make sure we have your address and name
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Stay with NYRA, you won’t regret it
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
And next year’s holiday card, you’ll get it!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

2010

Stuff the cards for NYRA members
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Like I do every December
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Christmas cheer is why I do this
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Though most of these people are Jewish
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Originally it was green with holly
Fa la la la la, la la la la
But Hal said no, it was not jolly
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Redesign I had to do
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Now has snowflakes and is blue
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Annual meeting pic of everyone
Fa la la la la, la la la la
We’re all having lots of fun!
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Wishing you all much joyous cheer
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
For now and for all of next year!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Fall fundraising mailing list
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Got many addresses from this
Fa la la la la, la la la la
First they get a money plea
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Then they get the card from me!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Five hundred cards, is that safe?
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Got a hundred more just in case.
Fa la la la la, la la la la
For politicians pro-youth rights
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
And our awesome members, you guys!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

To former board member Steve Ross
Fa la la la la, la la la la
And lots of friends of Dave Moss
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Interns, donors, leaders, of course!
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Thank you all for your support!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

I sent you a card, I guess
Fa la la la la, la la la la
That is if we have your address
Fa la la la la, la la la la
So check, is there one in your mail?
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
If not you might be made of fail.
Fa la la la la, la la la la

I’ve been working awfully hard
Fa la la la la, la la la la
You’d better enjoy your holiday card
Fa la la la la, la la la la
If not, I’ll tell your info to /b/
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
And claim you attacked Wikileaks.
Fa la la la la, la la la la

If I missed you, well that’s poor luck
Fa la la la la, la la la la
This is why you should sign up!
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Stay with NYRA, you won’t regret it
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
And next year’s holiday card, you’ll get it!
Fa la la la la, la la la la

Hehehe! Happy Holidays!

I was watching the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol this evening, and when Scrooge is with Christmas Present he’s watching his nephew and the Cratchits in church. Where everyone was singing O Come All Ye Faithful. And then I just got this feeling, that this movie from 1938, about a story written and taking place in like 1850 or so, features a church service where they are singing O Come All Ye Faithful. The very same O Come All Ye Faithful I’ll be singing at a church service on Christmas Eve here in 2010.

Times like this I understand more why people cling to their religions and/or traditions. Not so much necessarily any ideological reasons, but that belonging to some long-running chain of events, that makes one feel part of that something bigger, yet in a sense that each one of us is significant in it. Something like that.

When I went to London last year, I visited Saint Paul’s Cathedral, which has been there for like over a millennium. Or, more accurately, since it was rebuilt after that big ass London fire in like 1666 or something, but in any case, that site has been used for religious purposes for that millennium or so. While I was there, they did a quick afternoon service and some choir was singing. And I thought while sitting there that here I was, witnessing yet another service in the countless number of them that had been going on there since so very many centuries ago. Neat.

Christmas songs are perhaps my favorite thing about the season, what with embodying all the traditions have been swept into the veritable Katamari that Christmas is, as well as the general joy. And music is fun anyway!

And I wonder that a century from now, two centuries from now, they’ll still be singing Silent Night and Angels We Have Heard on High, as well as the newer but just as fun and meaningful songs, and the even more Christmas songs that have yet to be composed. Now that’s what I call seeing Christmas Past, Present, and Future!

Did I ever tell you the one about Santa’s ninth reindeer, Rudolph? He was born with a glowing red nose, and the other reindeer bullied him over it, until one foggy Christmas Eve, when Santa couldn’t fly anywhere because magic sleighs and flying reindeer are no match for ordinary fog that apparently covers the entire world, they realized Rudolph’s red nose makes a fine fog light, so they were able to go out after all.

Did I ever tell you the one about Frosty the Snowman? He was a snowman who came to life and started dancing around once a hat was put on his head because Christmas snow is amazing like that.

Did I ever tell you the one about Ebenezer Scrooge? He was some miser who hated everyone and everything until three Christmas ghosts visited him and convinced him he’s a dick, so he changed his ways just in time for Christmas morning.

Did I ever tell you the one about Jesus? His mother Mary immaculately conceived him, since he was the Son of God, and she and her husband Joseph traveled all the way to Bethlehem and delivered him in a stable, which made a big star appear in the sky, because this meant that everyone would now be forgiven for regretted wrongdoing…

Oh, crap. It just got real.

There’s no problem decorating our houses with Santa Claus and snowmen or nutcrackers, or putting up Dickensian houses on our living room tables. That’s normal for this time of year. We tell their stories and make them symbols of this lovely holiday season…

This is all despite the fact that these stories are widely accepted as being fictional.

Yet when it comes to Jesus, there’s an annoying fork in the road. One way means you believe the story about Jesus to be 100% historical fact and then you include him in all your decorations and songs and activities. The other way means you do not believe the Jesus story to be true at all and therefore leave him out entirely of the decorations and songs and activities.

I really don’t want to do either. Can’t I just be someone who doesn’t feel it matters if the story of Jesus is true or not? Yet at the same time, can’t I still accept that story as part of Christmas just like the others, given no special treatment? I mean, why do we listen to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with the idea that it’s just a cute story while listening to The First Noel with the expectation that one has to believe this story as true? To me, they’re all nice songs that tell nice stories, whether the story is a generous saint who flies around the world on Christmas Eve or about a miraculous birth signifying universal divine forgiveness.

To quote Santa Claus (from a story I wrote, LOL), “Oh, please! Jesus is great, but he’s only ONE part of Christmas.”

Right now, I’m at work and getting ready to send the first batch of NYRA’s holiday cards (yay!) and have 97.1 streaming online, the DC version of the generic Clear Channel light rock station that carries that annoying Delilah show in evenings and in December plays 24/7 Christmas music (with a few Chanukah songs thrown in here and there so they can pretend they’re all inclusive). I love Christmas music, I’ve been over this many times, yet there are several songs, which I’ve also mentioned before here and here and here and here and here, which are awful and keep getting played for some reason. Two of the worst are “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”. While the latter thankfully doesn’t seem to be getting played quite as much this year, the former is of course getting played over and over.

I mean, songs about Santa are great. Santa is great. “Here Comes Santa Claus” is fine. As are “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas” and “Up on the Housetop”. Not that any of those gets much play compared to the same-old “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”. Those other songs do the right thing and portray Santa as a nice jolly guy who shows up on Christmas Eve and gives you presents because he’s awesome like that. What does “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” do? It portrays him as a fucking ogre that spies on you and will show up and kick your ass if you are ever upset over anything, yet if you’re not he’ll totally build a toyland for you or something. Pair that with “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and the message seems to be that if you’re “bad”, Santa will not only leave you nothing but will make you watch as he makes out with your mom.

Adults love the idea of blackmailing children at Christmas time into behaving in a way they approve of by threatening to send away the jolly gift-giving saint. When around this time of year, my parents tell my little brother that he’d better behave or Santa won’t come, and I promptly tell him “Please! Santa doesn’t give a shit what these assholes think!” Yes, in those exact words.

But all this really makes you think once again how children are viewed. Society claims to love children and that things like Christmas are supposed to be made for them, yet when we also embrace the idea of using Christmas not as an unconditional year-end gift in and of itself but as a bargaining chip in exchange for submission, it’s clear that it is not the children themselves who are so loved. What is loved is adults’ idea of children, and that and only that is what adults think Christmas should be for. There’s no real expectation that children should be happy or loved, but they must certainly look that way. They must merely be the playthings of adults to be molded to the correct way, and those who aren’t are to be tossed aside and forgotten.

While I’ve never actually known a kid who missed out on Christmas because of his or her behavior, it’s still a major show of asshattery to hang that over their heads at all. Yeah, they still get the gifts, but you sure do your damndest to make them feel like shit over it. Suddenly they’re just spoiled while you’re so doting.

This does not mean Santa Claus should be thrown out entirely, hell no! Just acknowledge that all children (from 1 to 92!) are worthwhile. Even disobedient ones. Even non-Christian ones (Santa totally gives the Chanukah presents, right?). It’ll make the season even brighter and alleviate later resentment.

This Christmas time view of children is of course just one symptom of the enormous problem of children’s low position in our society. There’s a lot of ingrained mindsets to challenge. Christmas just has a way of shedding some light on those mindsets. Just as well. Can’t fight them if you can’t see them.

But songs don’t have to have come out within the past two weeks for you to get sick of their constant, constant, mindnumbing play. Hell, they don’t even have to have come out in the past two decades.

That’s right, this is about even classic rock songs that radio stations play the living shit out of. While any one of these songs might get fewer plays on a given day than any of the aforementioned brand new pop stuff, it’s also worse in a way because many of the overplayed pop songs will disappear without a trace in a month or so, while Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon” and Steve Miller’s “Joker” and Journey’s “Any Way You Want It” have been getting played sooo much consistently for many many years.

Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” I’m sick of, too. It’s considered this brilliant classic that everyone is supposed to love, and while I’m certainly not against the song itself, any given classic rock station will play it at least five times a day. Same with Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Same with Rolling Stones’s “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”.

I mentioned “Hotel California” in the title, but really, I’m sick of just about anything by the Eagles at this point, save for some of their songs which get played less often, such as “In the City”. But I swear, “Tequila Sunrise” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling” and even “Witchy Woman” are all pretty much running together to me. And the Eagles are one of those genre-spanning bands, like Fleetwood Mac, Heart, Toto, and others, where if you’re not hearing “Edge of 17″ or “Barracuda” or “Hold the Line” AGAIN on the damn classic rock station, you’re hearing them on the light rock station. Or the mix station.

Yet as sick as we get of these songs, whenever we’re out with friends and we’re listening to the radio, and one of these songs comes on, some of them will act like “OMG, I haven’t heard this in forever!” and be all singing along to it. Of course, most people in these situations are quite drunk so probably to be expected.

But are all classic rock stations under the impression that this is what all their listeners are doing? More like most listeners are alone in their cars, stuck in rush hour traffic, banging their heads against the steering wheel because the stupid station is AGAIN playing Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll” after AGAIN playing Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” after AGAIN playing Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” after AGAIN playing Kansas’s “Dust in the Wind”.

Classic rock stations don’t even have any excuse for this. At least the pop stations sort of exist for the very purpose of playing the newest songs over and over, and as said, that set of songs is different a month later. Classic rock stations have like 40 goddamn years worth of music they could be playing. Instead, they pick out maybe 20 different classic bands and buy their best-of albums and pick out no more than five songs off each of those albums, and that’s their station’s whole playlist. -_-

I mean, okay, these songs are “great” and all. For people old enough to have been around when they first came out, it’s supposed to be some kind of great nostalgia, bring them back to their youth. Except that doesn’t exactly do that. The songs get overplayed and any nostalgia they could have provided is long gone. As does any sense of how “great” these classics are. And these classics become just as tiresome in our minds as the newer pop stuff, thus to us Pink Floyd might as well be Pink.

This has been Day 1 of the 100 Days of Summer, Round 10.