Songs

So I'm on the treadmill, headphones in, and a Christmas song comes on.

All I Want For Christmas Is You. I love that song and wait every time for Mariah to take it upstairs at the end. It's so weird to hear Christmas songs in the summer but I don't care.

A good song is a good song.

When I was young it was O Holy Night and all that but you rarely heard contemporary Christmas songs. Blue Christmas comes to mind, as does Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, as does I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. There were more but not many.

When you went caroling it was pretty much the Silent Night bunch. Now? You hear all kinds of songs which brings me back to Mariah. As Yoda would say,"Talented she is."

She wrote All I Want For Christmas Is You as well as sings it. Did you even know she's a talented writer?

Great song.

And since we're talking got another one for ya. A song we sing all the time with cake and candles is Happy Birthday. I bet everyone knows that song and everyone has sung it to someone and had people sing it to them. According to the Guinness World Records it is the most recognized song in the English language. Second is For He's A Jolly Good Fellow.

I grew up with Happy Birthday. I can't tell you how many times I've heard it and I'll bet you can't either.

Well, into that deep pool jumped the Beatles, Paul McCartney specifically, with Birthday. It's on the White album and I was 14 when it came out. I remember when I first heard it, it sounded odd. I wasn't used to a different birthday song, got used to it, and we fans haven't looked back since. Plus it gave us a new cool phrase, 'take a cha cha cha chance.'

Thank you Beatles.

And when talking about birthday songs you can't forget Stevie Wonder.

Everyone now, "Happy Birthday to you..." Now to quibble it is about Nelson Mandela but I have sung part of it when I have heard it's someones birthday.

I saw Stevie once at Radio City and that was the last song of his concert. He instructed all of us to sing it as we streamed down the stairs to the lobby and out into the street. There we were sweetly singing as Radio City echoed with our voices. It was something out of a movie.

I've never forgotten.

Just some thoughts.

I would say the times they are a changing but that's a whole different song.












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