whim: an odd or capricious notion or desire; a sudden or freakish fancy

Sunday, December 15, 2013

"baby, it's cold outside" is quite disturbing.

I've had thoughts lately about certain Christmas songs. If you'll take a gander at my previous post, you will see that I generally spend a lot of time thinking about Christmas music. You might say too much time and, if you did, you might be right, but I've accepted it. Moving on.

Let me start out with a few stanzas from the popular holiday tune, "Baby, It's Cold Outside":

Woman: I really can't stay
Man: Baby, it's cold outside
Woman: I've got to go away
Man: Baby, it's cold outside...

Woman: My mother will start to worry
Man: Beautiful, what's your hurry?
Woman: Father will be pacing the floor
Man: Listen to the fireplace roar
Woman: So really I'd better scurry
Man: Beautiful, please don't hurry
Women: Maybe just a half a drink more
Man: Put some records on while I pour

Woman: The neighbors might think
Man: Baby, it's bad out there
Woman: Say, what's in this drink?


Say, what? "What's in this drink?"??!

Now, I may be reading this wrong, but I'm pretty sure a guy just slipped some drugs into this girl's drink. She notices. And yet she stays?? On what planet does that make sense?

Of course, I might also be compelled by his argument. I don't love the cold, and I always avoid being cold if at all possible, so if it really were blizzarding outside, I would seriously consider accepting his offer. If it were truly dangerous outside, he could simply be concerned about her health and well-being. But then HE PUTS SOMETHING IN HER DRINK. Good heavens, lady, do you think this guy is drugging you so you two can play another round of Monopoly or watch Mickey's Christmas Carol? A clue: NO.

Seriously, though, this song is like a precursor to date rape.

You will notice that I put "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (the Zooey Deschanel/Leon Redbone version) on this year's Official Christmas Playlist, but the more and more I listen to it, the more disturbing it becomes. On top of that, Leon Redbone sounds like he's twice Zooey's age (TRUTH: he was born in 1949, and she was born in 1980). Yikes. A big yikes.

Of course, this is not the only problematic Christmas song. I could go on about the drunk grandmother who gets run down by a reindeer because she's wandering outside alone on Christmas Eve (elder abuse!) or that Santa Claus watches children while they sleep (voyeurism?!), but I'll save that for another day, perhaps, or not write about it at all.

Monday, December 2, 2013

sometimes i obsess about christmas music

Every year (well, for the past couple of years at least), right before Thanksgiving, I spend a ridiculous amount of time creating my Official Christmas Playlist, a compilation of the Christmas songs I will listen to obsessively for the entire month of December. I have a lot of Christmas music in my iTunes library, and I enjoy putting my master holiday list on shuffle, but this list is special because it includes only the BEST (none of that Feliz Navidad garbage).

I am particularly proud of this year's compilation. I spent time not only selecting songs but also arranging them so each song flows naturally into the next. (I told you I obsessed over it.)

So without further chatter, here is my 2013 Official Christmas Playlist:

1. Deck the Halls, Mannheim Steamroller
2. I Saw Three Ships, Sufjan Stevens
3. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Amy Grant
4. The First Noel/Mary Mary, Sarah McLachlan
5. Carol of the Bells, Celtic Woman
6. Carol of the Bells, Mannheim Steamroller
7. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, The Piano Guys
8. Pachelbel's Canon in D Major, Vienna Boys' Choir
9. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Joshua Bell with Alison Krauss
10. Coventry Carol, Jenny Oaks Baker
11. What Child Is This?, Kristin Chenoweth
12. Blue Christmas, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
13. No Christmas for Me, Zee Avi
14. Frosty the Snowman, Zee Avi
15. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Jack Johnson
16. Santa Baby, Eartha Kitt
17. Baby, It's Cold Outside, Zooey Deschanel and Leon Redbone
18. White Christmas, Michael Buble and Shania Twain
19. Walking in a Winter Wonderland, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
20. Jingle Bells, Bing Crosby with The Andrews Sisters
21. Nutcracker Medley, Joshua Bell with Straight No Chaser
22. Auld Lang Syne, Pink Martini

For your listening convenience, I've uploaded a Spotify version of the playlist straight to my blog (see right). The songs are a bit mixed up and there are two songs that wouldn't play on Spotify, but at least you get the idea.


Also, just for fun, here's a holiday hedgehog.




Merry Christmas!