Do genetically engineered Christmas carols make you sick?

24

Replies

  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    BRB - youtubing this...

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    Holy snowballs, Batman! I couldn't get through the 1st verse.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Yeah, or Insane Clown Posse singing I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas.


    That sounds so awful, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it might actually be pretty awesome. But, since it's ICP, I'm probably wrong, so I won't go looking for it to see for myself.
  • beaglady
    beaglady Posts: 1,362 Member
    Last night I heard a new and terrible country Christmas song about Russell the Gray and White Guinea. It was about a guinea pig, but I immediately thought of guinea fowl and couldn't make the connection. Either way, lame and stupid.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    I love Advent and Christmas music. I'm a musician, and as long as I can remember, Christmas starts in September for me, planning and preparing. This year I organized a concert to benefit the local food shelf with several other church musicians. We had over 150 voices in our combined choir and a small orchestra... It was a blast! The limited time honestly makes the music more special.

    There are 100 unique hymns and carols for this season in our church hymnal. 100! But such a small fraction of those are "familiar"... Less than a third. They're familiar not just from church, but from constant play in stores and in the radio. I am always a bit frustrated because I want to introduce more variety but I hear "people want to sing their favorites" to the exclusion of all else. But I'm sneaky and make sure we have a few new favorites every year.

    Classics are classics for a reason, but with the typical radio /commercial Playlist being fewer than 40 songs, the repitition can be fatiguing, particularly when stores start it in October now. It's unfortunate because there are so many amazing songs, even new ones being written every year. You'll hear more variety on a Christian radio because that's the market.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    That's got to be the most bland, blah Christmas song ever. Soulless.

    And around our house, it's not Christmas until somebody plays "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" :o
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    edited December 2017
    tomteboda wrote: »
    I love Advent and Christmas music. I'm a musician, and as long as I can remember, Christmas starts in September for me, planning and preparing. This year I organized a concert to benefit the local food shelf with several other church musicians. We had over 150 voices in our combined choir and a small orchestra... It was a blast! The limited time honestly makes the music more special.

    There are 100 unique hymns and carols for this season in our church hymnal. 100! But such a small fraction of those are "familiar"... Less than a third. They're familiar not just from church, but from constant play in stores and in the radio. I am always a bit frustrated because I want to introduce more variety but I hear "people want to sing their favorites" to the exclusion of all else. But I'm sneaky and make sure we have a few new favorites every year.

    Classics are classics for a reason, but with the typical radio /commercial Playlist being fewer than 40 songs, the repitition can be fatiguing, particularly when stores start it in October now. It's unfortunate because there are so many amazing songs, even new ones being written every year. You'll hear more variety on a Christian radio because that's the market.

    I start listening to Pandora's Christian Christmas channel around the first of November. There are some really good new and newish Christian Christmas songs. I really like the "Mary Did You Know" song. It think it's kind of new.

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    tomteboda wrote: »
    I love Advent and Christmas music. I'm a musician, and as long as I can remember, Christmas starts in September for me, planning and preparing. This year I organized a concert to benefit the local food shelf with several other church musicians. We had over 150 voices in our combined choir and a small orchestra... It was a blast! The limited time honestly makes the music more special.

    There are 100 unique hymns and carols for this season in our church hymnal. 100! But such a small fraction of those are "familiar"... Less than a third. They're familiar not just from church, but from constant play in stores and in the radio. I am always a bit frustrated because I want to introduce more variety but I hear "people want to sing their favorites" to the exclusion of all else. But I'm sneaky and make sure we have a few new favorites every year.

    Classics are classics for a reason, but with the typical radio /commercial Playlist being fewer than 40 songs, the repitition can be fatiguing, particularly when stores start it in October now. It's unfortunate because there are so many amazing songs, even new ones being written every year. You'll hear more variety on a Christian radio because that's the market.

    I start listening to Pandora's Christian Christmas channel around the first of November. There are some really good new and newish Christian Christmas songs. I really like the "Mary Did You Know" song. It think it's kind of new.

    I love Mary Did You Know! It's newish comparatively (original version in the 1990's).

    I love Christmas music for exactly two weeks. Christmas music in November makes me irrationally angry. I like a nice mix of classic, with a few newer pop versions for variety, and two obligatory funny ones - Dominic the Donkey and Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer because they both made me giggle when I was little :blush:
  • shandy82165
    shandy82165 Posts: 184 Member
    Nope, not even close to perfect. Totally soulless.

    Now here's the best Christmas song ever: https://youtube.com/watch?v=F7u7L9FlI48
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    Am I the only person who likes rock Christmas music? The Kinks "Father Christmas" and Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "I Believe In Father Christmas" are two that come to mind.

  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    Huh. It was okay for the first 30 seconds and then it got old. Too contrived.

    I love Christmas music. As a joke I play Bing Crosby's White Christmas on our first snow day of the year - usually mid-September. LOL

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9ibhWgMlso

    I like the classics the most but the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is great and Pentatonix is quite good too.

  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    edited December 2017
    cmriverside wrote: »
    I start listening to Pandora's Christian Christmas channel around the first of November. There are some really good new and newish Christian Christmas songs. I really like the "Mary Did You Know" song. It think it's kind of new.
    I love that you listen to the Christian Christmas channel. There's so much more variety!

    Of all the Christmas songs in the world... you love one that I loathe the most! But its also one a great many people adore because it has a haunting melody.

    I strongly prefer Amy Grant's "Breath of Heaven"

    Some other favorites include
    "How Many Kings" - Downhere
    "Welcome to Our World" - Chris Rice
    "Leaving Heaven" - Matthew West
    "When Love Was Born" - Mark Schultz
    "My Deliverer" - Rich Mullins
    "Will We Know Him" - Don Besig
    "Winter Snow" - Audrey Assad
    "While You Were Sleeping" - Casting Crowns
    "A Baby Changes Everything" - Faith Hill (Wiseman, Wiseman & Nichols)
    "Christmas Offering" - Paul Baloche

    And for a song I'd never do in church, but is wonderful for Christmas (and very different) is
    "Shotgun Shells on the Christmas Tree" - Robin & Linda Williams
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    Also, that orginal song - that was some saccharine sentimentality there. But It's not setting my teeth on edge, I could tolerate it for a great many years.

    I don't know how it could possibly be happier than "Mele Kalikimaka" or "Sleigh Ride" though. It's hard for science to beat the masters. After all, it's really aping them.
  • jesspen91
    jesspen91 Posts: 1,383 Member
    I love Christmas music but it has to be varied. I like to have a playlist where I can mix in some modern songs with the 70s/80s boom of songs, the jazz classics, some traditional carols and some orchestral music. I feel like then there isn't over exposure and I like to hear different artists takes on the same classic songs.

    Plus there are some songs that are good for general Christmas atmosphere (carols, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, White Christmas) and others that are for belting at the top of your voice (All I Want For Christmas Is You, Fairytale of New York, Happy Christmas [War Is Over], Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree). You have to pick the one you're in the right mood for.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    Am I the only person who likes rock Christmas music? The Kinks "Father Christmas" and Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "I Believe In Father Christmas" are two that come to mind.

    No, you're not.

    And, just to be pedantic, it's not really ELP - just Greg Lake. It was marketed as ELP, though. IIRC, all of the stuff on the two "Works" albums were actually solo efforts combined under the ELP umbrella.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    tomteboda wrote: »
    Also, that orginal song - that was some saccharine sentimentality there. But It's not setting my teeth on edge, I could tolerate it for a great many years.

    I don't know how it could possibly be happier than "Mele Kalikimaka" or "Sleigh Ride" though. It's hard for science to beat the masters. After all, it's really aping them.

    Isn't that considered a good thing here? :wink:
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    Some good responses and good taste here.

    I'm a traditionalist and really dislike a lot of what is resonating in the ether right now. "Last Christmas" makes me want to plunge my fist through a plate glass window. "Christmas Shoes" is nothing but a cynical cash grab. I mean, seriously. I also don't care for a lot of the Trans-Siberian stuff that's all over the place - turning Canon in D into a Christmas song is an egregious foul. I want to like "Mary did you Know", but the theological error from a Catholic perspective kills it for me.

    Favorites:
    Gabriel's Message (especially appropriate for Advent)
    Christmas in Hollis (what of it?)
    For Unto us a Child is Born
    O Come Emmanuel (Advent)
    We Three Kings (as @tomteboda describes so well)
    A lot of the Mannheim Steamroller collection - the acoustic stuff, though, not the dance remix stuff.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    Relevant to the OP, is anyone familiar with the "Most Wanted Song" and "The Most Unwanted Song"? Similar to this Christmas piece, they put elements together based on opinion polls about what people wanted and didn't want. It's fascinating. The Most Wanted Song is a mush of pabulum, and the Most Unwanted Song is a trainwreck but oddly enjoyable in it's own way.

    Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Unwanted_Song

    Wanted:
    https://youtu.be/McIfIx29tSg


    Unwanted:
    https://youtu.be/A1VmBrwm7C4
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    @tomteboda Thanks for the playlist! I'll listen to them even though you don't like "Mary," :lol: All great artists, I don't think I can go wrong.
  • jesspen91
    jesspen91 Posts: 1,383 Member
    Jruzer wrote: »
    Relevant to the OP, is anyone familiar with the "Most Wanted Song" and "The Most Unwanted Song"? Similar to this Christmas piece, they put elements together based on opinion polls about what people wanted and didn't want. It's fascinating. The Most Wanted Song is a mush of pabulum, and the Most Unwanted Song is a trainwreck but oddly enjoyable in it's own way.

    Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Unwanted_Song

    Wanted:
    https://youtu.be/McIfIx29tSg


    Unwanted:
    https://youtu.be/A1VmBrwm7C4
    Jruzer wrote: »
    Relevant to the OP, is anyone familiar with the "Most Wanted Song" and "The Most Unwanted Song"? Similar to this Christmas piece, they put elements together based on opinion polls about what people wanted and didn't want. It's fascinating. The Most Wanted Song is a mush of pabulum, and the Most Unwanted Song is a trainwreck but oddly enjoyable in it's own way.

    Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Unwanted_Song

    Wanted:
    https://youtu.be/McIfIx29tSg


    Unwanted:
    https://youtu.be/A1VmBrwm7C4

    This confirms my theory that all the best songs have a saxophone.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    TR0berts wrote: »
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    Am I the only person who likes rock Christmas music? The Kinks "Father Christmas" and Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "I Believe In Father Christmas" are two that come to mind.

    No, you're not.

    And, just to be pedantic, it's not really ELP - just Greg Lake. It was marketed as ELP, though. IIRC, all of the stuff on the two "Works" albums were actually solo efforts combined under the ELP umbrella.


    After a little research, it appears ~3/4 was solo stuff, with the remaining ~1/4 the whole band.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    @tomteboda Thanks for the playlist! I'll listen to them even though you don't like "Mary," :lol: All great artists, I don't think I can go wrong.

    You're welcome! Yeah my opinion on that other song is largely pedantic and due to objections too bad theological awareness couched as contemplation. With different lyrics I'd probably love it as well. Or if I just didn't get so laser-focused on what lyrics mean. It Is very pretty!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    edited December 2017
    tomteboda wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    @tomteboda Thanks for the playlist! I'll listen to them even though you don't like "Mary," :lol: All great artists, I don't think I can go wrong.

    You're welcome! Yeah my opinion on that other song is largely pedantic and due to objections too bad theological awareness couched as contemplation. With different lyrics I'd probably love it as well. Or if I just didn't get so laser-focused on what lyrics mean. It Is very pretty!

    You have a good point, especially if you're doing performances...that stuff can cause riots in the pews.

    There is so much (too much) arguing over theology and the meaning of words already.
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
    jesspen91 wrote: »
    Jruzer wrote: »
    Relevant to the OP, is anyone familiar with the "Most Wanted Song" and "The Most Unwanted Song"? Similar to this Christmas piece, they put elements together based on opinion polls about what people wanted and didn't want. It's fascinating. The Most Wanted Song is a mush of pabulum, and the Most Unwanted Song is a trainwreck but oddly enjoyable in it's own way.

    Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Unwanted_Song

    Wanted:
    https://youtu.be/McIfIx29tSg


    Unwanted:
    https://youtu.be/A1VmBrwm7C4
    Jruzer wrote: »
    Relevant to the OP, is anyone familiar with the "Most Wanted Song" and "The Most Unwanted Song"? Similar to this Christmas piece, they put elements together based on opinion polls about what people wanted and didn't want. It's fascinating. The Most Wanted Song is a mush of pabulum, and the Most Unwanted Song is a trainwreck but oddly enjoyable in it's own way.

    Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Unwanted_Song

    Wanted:
    https://youtu.be/McIfIx29tSg


    Unwanted:
    https://youtu.be/A1VmBrwm7C4

    This confirms my theory that all the best songs have a saxophone.

    I think the best songs have that "police whistle" whistle (like in "Bad Girls" by Donna Summer), hahaha. Best part of 70s music.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Jruzer wrote: »
    Some good responses and good taste here.

    I'm a traditionalist and really dislike a lot of what is resonating in the ether right now. "Last Christmas" makes me want to plunge my fist through a plate glass window. "Christmas Shoes" is nothing but a cynical cash grab. I mean, seriously. I also don't care for a lot of the Trans-Siberian stuff that's all over the place - turning Canon in D into a Christmas song is an egregious foul. I want to like "Mary did you Know", but the theological error from a Catholic perspective kills it for me.

    Favorites:
    Gabriel's Message (especially appropriate for Advent)
    Christmas in Hollis (what of it?)
    For Unto us a Child is Born
    O Come Emmanuel (Advent)
    We Three Kings (as @tomteboda describes so well)
    A lot of the Mannheim Steamroller collection - the acoustic stuff, though, not the dance remix stuff.

    Can pretty much sign onto all of this.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    So a radio station around here that went 24/7 holiday music on Thanksgiving played a poppier version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah today and I'm calling BS. Just because a song includes a holy word does not make it holiday music, and no amount of bells added to the music makes that song a Christmas tune, dammit. :neutral: I may have to write a strongly worded email.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,251 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    So a radio station around here that went 24/7 holiday music on Thanksgiving played a poppier version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah today and I'm calling BS. Just because a song includes a holy word does not make it holiday music, and no amount of bells added to the music makes that song a Christmas tune, dammit. :neutral: I may have to write a strongly worded email.

    Just in general, conventionally-religious/pious takes on that song cause me some cognitive dissonance. I mean, Leonard Cohen?! Does anyone even read the lyrics from the less-often-covered verses: Yikes!
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Has anybody mentioned the adeste fideles yet?
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    So a radio station around here that went 24/7 holiday music on Thanksgiving played a poppier version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah today and I'm calling BS. Just because a song includes a holy word does not make it holiday music, and no amount of bells added to the music makes that song a Christmas tune, dammit. :neutral: I may have to write a strongly worded email.

    Just in general, conventionally-religious/pious takes on that song cause me some cognitive dissonance. I mean, Leonard Cohen?! Does anyone even read the lyrics from the less-often-covered verses: Yikes!

    IKR? Some of those verses are NSFW at the least lol. Even the more common verses are not exactly church appropriate :lol:
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