Christmas Eve Blahs

It may be beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but, to me at least, it doesn't feel like it.

This is only my second Christmas without my mother, and for some reason it feels less merry than my first one.  Perhaps that's to be expected with Donald Trump having returned to power and trashed everything.  But there have been other reasons.  A few weeks ago, the side-view mirror on my car get damaged and, because it's illegal to drive with even one damaged side-view mirror, I had to stay home during the annual Christmas historic-house tour that Essex County, New Jersey has every first weekend of December.  I had to miss some big local tree lightings, too.  I've also gotten bored with hearing the same Christmas songs over and over again on the radio (played every year by the same iHeart station - yuck!), and I was unable to go anywhere for holiday enjoyment in mid=December because of a previously scheduled colonoscopy.

The biggest void is no one to exchange gifts with.  I put up my tree like I did last year, and after having done such an abominable job decorating it last year, I was pleased this year when it came out better.  But the cats still keep messing it up. though I wouldn't trade my little fur babies for anything. 

It hasn't been a total washout.  This past Sunday, I went into New York to see model-turned-jazz singer Pat Cleveland, my previous interaction with whom you may remember, perform a set of songs, and she turned out to be a delightful performer as well as a fine singer.  I only knew about her show because her husband, whom I'm connected to on social media (it's complicated, don't ask me to explain it) invited me, and I was happy to go.  It cost me a pretty penny to get there and back as well as for the who itself, but it was worth it.  

I still have some sadness, though, if only because of where we Americans are as a sorry excuse for a nation.  Fourteen months ago this time, I expected to be celebrating Christmas 2025 with a woman who looks a lot like Pat Cleveland running the country and embodying a new birth of freedom; instead, I have given up on These States and I am openly advocating secession and disunion.  But the lack of someone to exchange presents with is still depressing enough.  It's a shame not to have someone to receive a gift from.  It's even more of a shame not to have someone to give a gift to.

Tough, but true.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas . . .

. . . and all through the house . . . not much is going on, really.  I'm just taking advantage of the fact that it's December 24 and chilling out.  I'll be posting somewhat less in the coming week, but I'll still be around.  And oh, yes, I have to start working on my winners and losers list for the year.  I'm still trying to decide whether or not to put any politicians on either list; I don't know if I can say any of them one is actually a winner, and choosing any of them for the list of losers is like putting a Captain and Tennille album on a worst records list - it's too easy a shot.  But I just might figure something out.

I'll be back.  Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night. :-)      

The Ten Best Christmas Songs of All Time

Having played Scrooge with my choices for the five worst Christmas songs of all time, I now present (no pun intended) my choices for the ten best Christmas songs of all time. And because it's Christmas Eve and I don't want to spend all night typing this thing when I could actually be listening to any of these songs, I'll keep my comments brief. My choices are in more or less chronological order. So here they are:

"White Christmas" as recorded by the Drifters. Bing Crosby's version has a lot of heart, but the Drifters, with Clyde McPhatter delivering a transcendent falsetto, gave the song a lot of soul.

"Run Run Rudolph," Chuck Berry. The crispness of Berry's guitar matches the deep, even snow on the ground, and his lyrics are as acerbic as cranberry sauce.

"Mistletoe and Holly," Frank Sinatra. At times traditional ("Tasty pheasants, Christmas presents, countrysides covered with snow") and humorous ("Overeating, merry greetings from relatives you don't know"), it's a cool and clever pop song only Ol' Blue Eyes could have recorded.

"Here Comes Santa Claus (Down Santa Claus Lane)" as recorded by Elvis Presley. Elvis was deeply religious, and he loved Christmas, so he was very much in his element with this song, perhaps the only song that combined the secular with the sacred ("Santa Claus knows we're all God's children / That makes everything right").

"Little Saint Nick," the Beach Boys. It took a group obsessed with cars as much as this one to explain Santa's love affair with the nine-reindeer-power sleigh. With descriptions such as "candy apple red" with "a four-stick speed," it makes us more appreciative of what cool runners Santa's got.

"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Combining Lennon's penchant for snappy slogans and verse and Phil Spector's magical production - with a little help from their friends, the Harlem Community Choir - John and Yoko's solemn prayer for peace is so perfect that to cover it would be foolhardy. Someone forgot to mention that to the many people who have attempted to do so.

"It Doesn't Have To Be That Way," Jim Croce. "Blue Christmas" with a hopeful ending. A subtle, finely crafted ballad with honest and detailed descriptions of Christmas celebrations, it reminds us of how Croce's talents were beginning to bloom before his fatal 1973 plane crash.

"Step Into Christmas," Elton John. This is a fun, cheery number in which you can almost see the snow falling, as Elton's lyricist Bernie Taupin once said. Released near the end of 1973, the song thanks Elton's fans for giving him such a wonderful year (a year in which he enjoyed several hit singles and released the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road double album), and the success this record has had keeps returning his gratitude.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Who'd Be a Turkey At Christmas," Elton John. The B-side of "Step Into Christmas, it mixes Monty Python humor with that of the Bonzo Dog Doodah Band as a drunken Elton finds himself in the company of Father Christmas himself. And all he sees is red.

"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" as recorded by John Mellencamp. A precious song is turned into something that cooks like turkey and is as tasty as pumpkin pie with this heavy rave-up arrangement. Kenny Aronoff re-asserts his place as the best drummer in Midwestern rock with his muscular backbeat.

I could expand this list to work in anything recorded by Bruce Springsteen and Charles Brown - among others - but I don't want waste anyone's time. :-) I know you have better things to do tonight than read this.

Merry Christmas. I hope you get a chance to hear all of your favorite Christmas songs.