Christmas Melodies

Christmas Melodies

         It amazes me when I realize that I have accumulated over a half-century of Christmas memories. I have even endured the dreaded question, “What was Christmas like when you were a little boy, Grandpa?” I always thought that question was asked of other people--you know, older folk. However, I find that I can no longer avoid it. I suppose that I must be thankful for the fact that I can remember them or at least most of them.

         I was there for all of them, and my wife, Linda, has shared over half of them with me. I suppose that one of the significant things that surfaces as I recall these Christmas events is the music. There has always been music at Christmas. It is interesting that the Christmas tunes come earlier every year. They tend to advance on the calendar with the commercial shopping season. But that really does not bother me, for I am ready for those melodies.

         The melodies of Christmas envelope me like the very air I breathe during this season. They blend with my moods and often are a party to my emotions at that time, which ranges from reverent to joyous to just plain funny. They sneak into my semi-consciousness, for they often arrive when I’m driving or shopping or working with the music in the background. These Christmas melodies thrust memories of my past to the forefront of my conscious existence. There is no logic as to chronology. They present themselves as part of my early childhood, my adolescence, and my adult years--however, in no particular order at all.

         My childhood comes to mind when I hear “Frosty the Snowman”, as sung by Burl Ives. My goodness, only Gene Autry can really sing “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” Anyone else is simply an imitator. Can you believe it? I remember Tennessee Ernie Ford singing “Silent Night.” Don’t ask me why, but I always want to break out in a chorus of “Sixteen Tons” right after. I remember Gentleman Jim Reeves singing “Silver Bells.” You may not recall, but I remember hearing Judy Garland singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” (A note here: I realize that at about this time some of the younger folk may be saying, “Who in the world are these people?” Just bear in mind that these are my memories after all.)

         Through my adolescent and teen years I remember my parents listening to Perry Como, Tony Bennett, and Andy Williams singing songs like: “Do You Hear What I Hear?”, “Adeste Fideles”, and “Home For The Holidays.” This in itself is an amazing thing because country/western was the music of preference in our house. As a teenager I remember hearing Brenda Lee singing “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” And, then there was Elvis, who sang a number of Christmas tunes. I always remember him singing “Blue Christmas”—remember? “...it’ll be a blue, blue, blue Christmas.” Where I lived in Oklahoma, the closest that we came to speaking Spanish was to order tacos at a Mexican restaurant. However, “Feliz Navidad” sung by Jose Feliciano had us all singing in Spanish, at least for those few words. I suppose that it was about that time that I first heard “The Little Drummer Boy.” I liked it the first time that I heard it, and I still do. Although, it isn’t quite the same when played as “elevator music” over the department store speaker system.

         Then there were the novelty tunes, like the Chipmunks singing “Christmas Don’t Be Late.” It really becomes irritating when that song gets stuck in your mind in perpetual replay and you sing it over and over again all day long. I must admit that my favorite Christmas novelty melody is “Snoopy and the Red Baron Christmas” as sung by the Royal Guardsmen, which undoubtedly is their only claim to fame. Now, I don’t know who sang it, but I remember hearing “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” by some kid with a real country ‘twang.’ I suspect the same kid probably did “All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth.” Unfortunately, try as I might, I will never forget “Jingle Bells” as sung by those obnoxious barking dogs.

         Some of the names of the melodies escape my memory—like the one sung by Willie Nelson that has the words, “…pretty papers, pretty ribbons of blue.” And, there is the one by Perry Como that goes, “I heard the bells on Christmas day….” I’m sure you remember those names instantly, I don’t. However, the melodies and the messages that they leave in my heart are ever present, even when I just think about them.

         This brings to mind the songs that I can’t sing simply because I cannot remember the words all the way through—songs such as “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” My “maids a milkin’” always get confused with the “geese a layin’” or the “horns a honkin.”” See what I mean? I firmly believe that some songs are listening songs only. Some of these Christmas melodies are not intended for the common man to vocalize. These are songs that should only be attempted by professionals. The melodies are all familiar, but the cadence and the skill needed to sing them are lost on me—songs like “Ring Ring the Bells.” Forget it, I’ll just listen and remember.

         It is also quite interesting that these musical memories are sometimes associated with the generation of my parents and other relatives who heard these melodies before I was born. It is disheartening that there are young people today who do not know who Bing Crosby was. But I recognize him instantly when I hear “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.” When I hear “I’ll be Home for Christmas” I think of my father as a young Marine on a ship on his way to the Battle of Okinawa in the not so white Pacific, during World War II. And, I think of my uncle as a young 82nd Airborne infantryman in a cold and snowy field in France during the Battle of the Bulge. Those memories always give me pause to give thanks for what they did for me on that Christmas day before I was born.

         The Christmas spirit is enhanced with the memories of melodies that speak to the real meaning of Christmas. I remember singing “Away in a Manger” as a child. It warms my soul to hear my own grandkids sing it today. “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” and “Joy to the World” have never sounded better to me than when I stand among the congregation of my church and celebrate the Lord’s birth with song. It causes me to remember a little country Church in Carney, Oklahoma, where the voices were not always in tune but their hearts and spirits were. I can remember Nat King Cole singing “O Holy Night.” It still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up when I hear the “Hallelujah Chorus”—“…King of kings and Lord of lords, hallelujah, hallelujah.” Surely this gift of music, which is one of the greatest gifts that mankind has ever received, is at its very best when it proclaims the love of God and His gift to us of His Son.

         This Christmas season I have purposed, in my heart, to listen a little more intently to the songs of Christmas. With each and every melody there is attached a memory. I believe that Christmas is about memories. I know that the music of Christmas, whether a jingle, a song, or a chorus causes memories. I will remember the melodies of my childhood and my adolescence, as well as those being formed in my present. I count myself fortunate indeed to be able to hear the melodies resulting from that one precious event in time. And it is even more moving to be able to know the Christ of Christmas, who created the song.