Seven Song Spin: Oh By Gosh, By Golly
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| Wrenboys on St. Stephen's Day in Dingle, Ireland. |
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What is new that happened on Earth: "A Breton Carol" is one of the most heart-wrenching tunes I know from any season or source. I first heard it on the Chieftains' 1986 classic Celtic Wedding, and they later reprised it on the indispensable Christmas album, The Bells of Dublin, with the same Breton guest vocalist, Nolwen Monjarret. (Lyrics and translation are here; I like the tune so much I did my own English lyrics for it.)
Real hot stuff: Speaking of The Bells of Dublin, my favorite from that great record is the lively "The Wren in the Furze," a cracking jig with seemingly grim lyrics in which our door-to-door carolers are busking for a "penny for to bury the wren" who was "caught in the furze" (wheat). I didn't realize till just now that it springs from a whole tradition that has little to do with hunting actual wrens anymore and more to do with "Wren Day" (Dec. 26) and a parade of rollicking "wrenboys" (careful how say that).
Meat nor drink nor money: Peter, Paul & Mary's catchy "A-Soalin' " is an inspired minor-key mashup of the medieval English tradition of begging for "soul cakes," a possible precursor to trick-or-treating, and the caroling-for-food-and-drink traditions invoked by "The Wren in the Furze" or "Here We Come A-Wassailing."
Jouez hautbois, résonnez musettes: I may have first heard the exquisite French carol "Il est né, le divin Enfant" on The Bells of Dublin in a lovely rendition by the McGarrigle Sisters (that record is a treasurehouse, I'm telling you), but I'm also quite partial to this rendition by Andrew Parrott's Taverner Ensemble, on the great collection simply titled The Carol Album.
Fall on your knees: Another, more famous French hymn gets an irreverent, irresistible Tex Mex spin in Brave Combo's "O Holy Night Cha Cha Cha."
In days beyond recall: One record my sister and I cherished as a child was the Columbia Special Products release of 1973, That Christmas Feeling. There amid the Johnny Mathis and Mormon Tabernacle Choir was a festive, twee singalong half in Italian, "O Bambino (One Cold and Blessed Winter)." My sister and I first ironically loved it, and only now that we've tracked it down—it's by the New Christy Minstrels—do we love it unreservedly, as an artifact of our childhood (and a rollicking tune to boot).
What is new that happened on Earth: "A Breton Carol" is one of the most heart-wrenching tunes I know from any season or source. I first heard it on the Chieftains' 1986 classic Celtic Wedding, and they later reprised it on the indispensable Christmas album, The Bells of Dublin, with the same Breton guest vocalist, Nolwen Monjarret. (Lyrics and translation are here; I like the tune so much I did my own English lyrics for it.)
Real hot stuff: Speaking of The Bells of Dublin, my favorite from that great record is the lively "The Wren in the Furze," a cracking jig with seemingly grim lyrics in which our door-to-door carolers are busking for a "penny for to bury the wren" who was "caught in the furze" (wheat). I didn't realize till just now that it springs from a whole tradition that has little to do with hunting actual wrens anymore and more to do with "Wren Day" (Dec. 26) and a parade of rollicking "wrenboys" (careful how say that).
Meat nor drink nor money: Peter, Paul & Mary's catchy "A-Soalin' " is an inspired minor-key mashup of the medieval English tradition of begging for "soul cakes," a possible precursor to trick-or-treating, and the caroling-for-food-and-drink traditions invoked by "The Wren in the Furze" or "Here We Come A-Wassailing."
Jouez hautbois, résonnez musettes: I may have first heard the exquisite French carol "Il est né, le divin Enfant" on The Bells of Dublin in a lovely rendition by the McGarrigle Sisters (that record is a treasurehouse, I'm telling you), but I'm also quite partial to this rendition by Andrew Parrott's Taverner Ensemble, on the great collection simply titled The Carol Album.
Fall on your knees: Another, more famous French hymn gets an irreverent, irresistible Tex Mex spin in Brave Combo's "O Holy Night Cha Cha Cha."
In days beyond recall: One record my sister and I cherished as a child was the Columbia Special Products release of 1973, That Christmas Feeling. There amid the Johnny Mathis and Mormon Tabernacle Choir was a festive, twee singalong half in Italian, "O Bambino (One Cold and Blessed Winter)." My sister and I first ironically loved it, and only now that we've tracked it down—it's by the New Christy Minstrels—do we love it unreservedly, as an artifact of our childhood (and a rollicking tune to boot).
Folks stealin' a kiss or two: I cherish the memory of my first Christmas season away from home my freshman year in college—I spent the actual holiday with family, but in the lead-up to it I felt for the first time like I was building or reconstituting my own holiday tradition, and two of its chief staples were A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Sinatra Christmas Album. Did it hurt that I had someone specific in mind for a key activity alluded to in the irresistible "Mistletoe and Holly"? Reader, it did not.
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