Y'know, I always thought that ELVIS's version of this number was too much of a toe-tapper and didn't quite capture the mood of the song. JIM REEVES' rendition on the other hand, is the way that sad songs should be sung. Give it a listen.
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Tuesday, 22 December 2015
8 comments:
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That was a good version but I prefer Christmas songs to actually be ABOUT Christmas rather than just another love song which happens to have a festive backdrop. The version I mainly know of this song was by Shakin' Stevens in 1982.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about the song is that, at Christmas, which is all about having loved ones and families around us, NOT to have that special person is heartbreaking. In that sense, it's quite apt.
ReplyDeleteKid, you've been brainwashed - all that stuff about Christmas being about "families" and "loved ones" is a Victorian middle-class invention. Christmas is a midwinter festival for eating and drinking and merry-making - call it Saturnalia, Yule or whatever it's been happening since the days of Stonehenge when they gathered to celebrate the winter solstice. And it's not "for children" either.
ReplyDeleteB*ll*cks, CJ (he said, in a kind and caring way). When it was all about what you describe, it wasn't called Christmas. The Victorian idea is what informs our modern view - or at least it once did. I'm talking about what Christmas SHOULD be (and once was) before it became so commercialized and an excuse for a booze-up.
ReplyDeleteWell actually, Kid - the medieval Christmas WAS all about eating and drinking and festivities and it WAS called Christmas. But after the Reformation Christmas became much less popular and by the early 19th century it had almost disappeared apparently. The Victorian era revived it and made it all about families and children which it hadn't been before. Of course in Scotland Christmas was replaced altogether by Hogmanay - my father was born in 1927 and he said that when he was a boy in Glasgow Christmas day was just a normal working day. In England and Wales New Year's day wasn't a holiday till 1974 - my parents were married on New Year's Day in 1954 and it was just a normal day.
ReplyDeleteThe word from which 'Christmas' is derived first appeared in 1038, but what I should've said was that the celebration to which the Christian concept was tagged onto wasn't originally called Christmas. Nor was it exclusively called Christmas, which was what I was getting at. In modern times, December 25th has become synonymous with Christmas, and it's the Victorian idea on which ours originally aspired to. My point being, regardless of what 'Christmas' used to be (which was celebrations of pagan ideas and whatnot) and regardless of the commercial exploitation it's become, to me, the ideal Christmas is one which consists of an exchange of modest gifts between families, with emphasis on the kids. Most people I talk to agree with me, and lament the fact they caught up in the over-the-top madness that Christmas now is.
ReplyDeleteIn Scotland, Christmas Day didn't become a public holiday until 1958, and Boxing Day followed suit in 1974. However, Christmas was still observed as a special time, even in your father's day, CJ, although, I suppose that for anyone who had to work as usual, it wouldn't have seemed very special to them. Incidentally, Christmas was apparently called Yule in Scotland prior to the Reformation of 1560. So there. Rasssppppp!
So, Kid - your first Christmas was a public holiday for the first time. My mother's first Christmas (1932) was the first time there was a broadcast by the King on Christmas Day and my first Christmas (1966) was the first one to have special Xmas stamps. Actually I remember my father saying he had to save up for his own Christmas present thanks to his tight-fisted mother so he did recognize Christmas. And yes, I'll agree about the "over the top madness" of the modern festivities but that is down to the weakness of a lot of people who should refuse to indulge in that madness. When I was about 15 I stopped expecting presents from my parents and for the rest of their lives I never gave them presents and they never gave me any and we were perfectly happy about it - I accept you have to buy presents for kids up till early teens but after that ? And presents for adults ?? Buy your own f*****g presents !! My Christmas festivities are quite modest and that's the way I like it.
ReplyDeleteYes, they made it a public holiday in my honour. (I'm making it up now, can you tell?) As for buying your own presents, I HAVE to, otherwise I wouldn't get any. Nobody likes me you see, on account of me being an aggressive, bullying, commentator on comics. (Oops! I was buying into the myth there for a moment.)
ReplyDelete