By:
On:
With: 0 Comments

Stillwater, Oklahoma

1. HEARTBEAT

“a vast and magnificent landscape. The prairies bordering on the rivers are always varied in this way with woodland, so beautifully interspersed as to appear to have been laid out by the hand of taste… to rival the most ornamented scenery of Europe.” — Washington Irving

I’ve felt your beating heart;
thump thump… thump thump… thump thump…
thump thump… thump thump… thump thump…
Old folks still make weekly
pilgrimages to pray,
to seek God and solace.
Many hours of my youth
I spent rubbing the hands
of my grandma, wrinkled
and loose-skinned like mine now,
while the congregation
sang hymns from “the blue book,”
while old family friends
talked about love, dryly
reciting the red words.
Three times or more a week,
we’d gather to worship.
Thump thump… thump thump… thump thump…
I have felt the comfort
of belonging there, fell
for empty dogma long
before my welcome stopped.

Notes

Written 19 February 2020

Brian Fuchs, “Stillwater, Oklahoma” from Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Scissortail Press, 2020)

By:
On:
With: 0 Comments

I’ve been listening to a lot of Christmas music, especially in the car.  I love it.  I look forward to the switch to all every year, and like everyone, I have some favorites I’m excited to hear.

“The inexpressible depth of music, so easy to understand and yet so inexplicable, is due to the fact that it reproduces all the emotions of our innermost being, but entirely without reality and remote from its pain…Music expresses only the quintessence of life and of its events, never these themselves.” ― Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

So many Christmas songs have an ability to move me in ways that other types of music lack.  Maybe that is just because they are played annually and often during the season.  Maybe it is just that the holiday season is full of activity, and that gives these songs special meaning.  There are a handful of songs that make me think of the smell of the Santa bag we had at our house one year.  Another group transports me to my grandparents’ house on a December evening, the tree glowing intensely red.

I’ve made a “Top 15” list here, which was pretty hard.  There are so many I love.  A week from now, this list could be a completely different one too.  At the time of writing this, these are my favorite Christmas songs.

15. Darius Rucker — Hark! the Herald Angels Sing

1739, Darius Rucker recording 2014

This is one of my favorite carols by anyone, and Darius Rucker does a beautiful job.  Few songs give me as many Christmasy feelings as this one.

14. Ivy Winters — Elfy Winters Night

2016

This is a brand new song for 2016, and I’m very into it.  It’s a fun modern swing sort of thing.  It’s the kind of song that makes me think of a speakeasy, but in a theatrical sense… the type of song performed in a movie scene in a 1920s or 1930s bar.

13. Thurl Ravenscroft (uncredited) — You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

1966

This is one I try to resist loving, but it is just so tied to my Christmas experience that I can’t not love it.  It’s been recorded by other artists, but the original from the 1966 special is really the best.  Incidentally, the voice actor who sang the song, Thurl Ravenscroft, was not credited for the song, but he’s most well-known as the voice of Tony the Tiger.  He did so many other recognizable things as well, and his voice is just so perfect for this song.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZgP0aUKlmNw

12. Pentatonix — Mary, Did You Know?

1991, Pentatonix recording 2014

Pentatonix is sometimes criticized, including by me, for being too plastic.  There is such a thing as too polished, and they often go a step too far for me.  But what they absolutely do right in this song is give it the power it deserves.  A friend pointed out that this song is about a revelation that should be delivered with a certain vehemence, something most singers fail to deliver.  This version really builds beautifully and the lands softly.  It’s really a journey, and I enjoy being taken on it.

11. Gayla Peevey – I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas

1953

This song is so ridiculous and cute, and for me is less obnoxious than the other Christmas songs by and for kids.  It makes this list because it makes me smile every time I hear it.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2Dec9Jb_Ac4

10. Bing Crosby — Little Drummer Boy

1941, Bing Crosby recording 1962

Little Drummer Boy was my grandpa’s favorite Christmas song.  It makes me think of his house as it was in the 1980s at Christmas, music coming from the stereo cabinet in the living room and the tree intensely lit in red lights.  It makes me think of red three-wick candles, large ceramic Mr. & Mrs. Santa figures, and boxes of wrapping paper at the ready.  It conjures up the smell of brown and serve rolls, the taste of Aunt Chick’s cookies, and the energy of a house well lived in.  It is Christmas for me.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=H6Bv6sX370E

9. Megan Mullally — Silent Night

1818, Megan Mullally recording 2001

I love Megan Mullally’s voice.  She does a fantastic version of Silent Night here, and seems so unique to her own style in parts.  Silent Night is one of the songs I like by most artists, but I sometimes feel like the style doesn’t match the themes of the song.  This one does a pretty good job with that.  This was included on an album of NBC stars, and at that time Will & Grace was enjoying its greatest success.  Megan Mullally went on to release several albums, all amazing and worth looking into.

8. Burl Ives — Holly Jolly Christmas

1962, this Burl Ives recording 1965

What is Christmas without Burl Ives?  Sad, that’s what.  I really appreciate that Ives recorded this for his Christmas album the year after it appeared on the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Soundtrack.  That version had been so rushed and I like this slightly slowed one much more.  This song, and really any song from Rudolph, makes me feel like a kid in all the right ways.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=DtVxFi9C0RA

7. Scott Matthew — Silent Nights

2008

This original song is sweet, sad, wistful… it’s one of the feelings I can identify with, especially during Christmas.  It’s beautiful, and Scott Matthew is the absolute master at making me feel sad and then making feel okay about feeling sad.  His songs are usually wrapped in melancholy, but I’m always glad they are.

6. Carpenters — Merry Christmas Darling

1970

All the Christmas feelings.  This one is similar to Silent Nights, but far more hopeful.  You feel mildly sad that these two won’t be together for Christmas, but are left with little doubt that they will eventually reunite.

5. Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You

1994

I got this album when it came out, and I have yet to get enough of this one.  It is just as perfect as it ever was. It’s so full of the joy that makes Christmas wonderful, and truly a timeless classic.

<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/yXQViqx6GMY” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

4. Ella Fitzgerald – Sleigh Ride

1948, Ella Fitzgerald recording 1960

Ella.  Need I say more?

3. Dolly Parton — Hard Candy Christmas

1978, Dolly Parton & Movie recording 1982

This might be surprisingly high on my list… maybe?  It wasn’t conceived as a Christmas song, but I’m happy to listen to it over and over during December.  This song makes me want to drink cocoa and warm up under a blanket with a good book.

Dolly Parton’s Solo Studio Version

Film Version featuring Dolly Parton & the Cast of The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas

2. Wham! — Last Christmas

1984

This one is polarizing.  I’ve seen it on as many lists of worst Christmas songs as best Christmas songs.  For me it is almost at the top of my favorites. I suppose if you have an aversion to 1980s pop music, you might not care for this, but I love 80s pop.  I especially love anything from George Michael, and I’m happy to hear this in every store during the holidays.

1. Trans-Siberian Orchestra — Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)

1914 (Carol of the Bells), traditional (God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen)m Trans-Siberian Orchestra recording 1996

Carol of the Bells is probably my favorite Christmas carol, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra really takes it to another level here. This song is a great storytelling.  It’s very moving.

Honorable Mentions

Here are some other songs I love, but they just didn’t quite get on my list.  It’s pretty hard to narrow down to 15; I could probably do a list of 100, and I’d still have to leave things off that I love.

Dean Martin — Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! 

Bing Crosby & Ella Fitzgerald — It’s A Marshmallow World 

Carnie Wilson & Wendy Wilson — Hey Santa

Trans-Siberian Orchestra — A Mad Russian’s Christmas

Burl Ives — Silver and Gold

Scott Matthew — Blue Christmas

Alaska, Courtney Act & Willam — Dear Santa, Bring Me A Man, 2014

Weather Girls’ — Dear Santa, Bring Me A Man, 1983

Ingrid Lucia — ‘Zat You, Santa Claus?

BC Clark Anniversary Sale Jingle

Megan Mullally sings BC Clark Anniversary Sale Jingle

The Waitresses — Christmas Wrapping

Bing Crosby & David Bowie — Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy

Detox — This Is How We Jew It

By:
On:
With: 0 Comments

Open your arms (and welcome Love)

A fervent plea to those people I’ve seen my Church family morphing into, slipping away from me, from Love. A prayer for the many who’ve seen the backs of their loved ones too often, shivering alone because they were misunderstood or openly judged for being human.

My neighbors turned towards themselves
and forgot my face.
Backs towards me with multitudes of assumptions.
My heart feels the hymns,
feels the joy still.
I’m unchanged.
My image fails me; refuses to take the shape of the mold
[the idyllic life]
the person I was supposed to be.
I’m neither broken nor lost.
I’m Love’s child, regardless of whispers and raised eyebrows.
My home,
our home.
I never felt so unwelcome from a family, silently, passively.
Judgments. Silence.
Silence.
From my perch high above the elders,
the deacons, the little old ladies
who wait for death on the third pew from the back,
my mind stretches, finding thoughts far from my body,
dreamily.
I welcome judgment.
Don’t pray for me in anger
or sorrow
or disappointment.
Don’t welcome be back from depravity.
Be family; be true to Love.
Love. Love.
Open your arms — not only to me,
not to selfish or petty concerns of mine,
open your arms because they should be open.
Because they are there for welcoming,
uncrossed and warm,
welcome the children, your family,
forgotten innocents,
the joyful, the content,
the exuberantly happy,
the depressed, and the angry.
Keep you arms open to those whose lives you don’t understand,
whose lives are full of light and laughter,
but cannot find comfort in rigid conformity.
I’ll join them too — march with them
into the auditoriums across distances,
across situational divides.
Be Love.
Kiss your neighbor on the forehead and have them over for dinner.
There is nothing important like Love.
There is nothing but Love.
There is Love.
Love.
And Love will take our hands — yours, mine,
the multitudes huddled in the rain.
We’ll find ourselves then.
We’ll free ourselves and be family again.
And selfish concerns and trivial differences will never be able to keep us apart.

8.21.2008

Featured Image Art: Michelangelo, “The Creation of Adam”