Follow the Leader Episode 152: Christmas Trees You Prefer, and Tunes You Don't...
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11 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Here's two for the price of one:
1) which Christmas songs do you HATE?
2) which is best: real Christmas tree or fake Christmas tree?
The 12 Days of Christmas is an automatic change on the radio dial. Cannot stand that song. I'm also good for one listen each season of McCartney's Wonderful Christmas Time. It's not a bad song, but just really overplayed it seems.
While I like the smell of a real tree, we've had artificial trees 90% of the time since we've been married. The mess of the needles dropping at the end, fitting the trunk to the stand at the beginning... you can have those hassles. We actually just dropped $400 on two new artificial trees a couple of Fridays ago.
I can't think of a Christmas song I really HATE, but Doug's suggestion of The 12 Days of Christmas is definitely a song I could do without. I'm also more a fan of the upbeat Christmas songs in general.
I guess I'd go with artificial trees. No mess and it's reusable.
1. I dislike songs that have a reference to Christmas in one or two lines, such as "Favorite Things" from Sound of Music. There are so many traditional Christmas songs to listen to, I don't know why some of these find there way into so many repeats during the season.
2. Real trees look nice and smell nice, but they usually aren't sturdy enough to hang some of the ornaments that I like to include in my tree. If Spidey is swinging from branch to branch, those branches need to be strong!
Mike, I think I heard that someone (John Legend, maybe) has rewritten Baby It's Cold Outside to get rid of the date rape elements. I, too, can do without that song.
DisneyMarvel - agreed on Favorite Things. I've been listening to the Hallmark Christmas channel a bit on Sirius XM. When Rod Stewart comes on singing that track, I'm out.
I too have a deep loathing for The Twelve Days of Christmas. It's up there with Old McDonald Had a Farm when it comes to songs that resemble instruments of torture. I also can't stand Chris Rea's Driving Home for Christmas, the dullest Christmas song ever written. White Christmas doesn't really float my boat either. Basically, anything dull and sentimental fails to impress me at Yuletide.
Like dbutler, I can't think of any songs that evoke hatred in my heart (and ears). However, I'll risk purest heresy and say I can do without "White Christmas ". Not that its a bad song, obviously it's a classic. But to my ears, it is So Overplayed. Maybe if I only heard it once each season when we watch the movie...
And an artificial tree is our general choice, although we have had a few "live ones"...
1) Artificial - waaaay easier and more environmentally sensible!
2) 12 Days of Xmas. Sung it way too many times in grade school for Xmas shows.
3) Baby It's Cold Outside is disturbing. But one only need to sample songs from the 40s, 50s, etc. and find that many of them are disturbing for the same reason: "wait, don't go, I want to... you"
4) Favorite Things was not intended as an Xmas song IIRC; it was written for Sound of Music. And if you want to have the time of your life, do Fraulein Maria's "SOM" Bicycle Tour in Salzburg! Pure Joy!
1) which Christmas songs do you HATE? Um, most of them? Not really a Christmas song guy. In fact, I prefer McCartney's syrupy, kitschy "Wonderful Christmastime" to the more serious stuff people seem to love so much. The only ones I tend to like are the more irreverent ones, like the Kinks' "Father Christmas" or the Pogues' "Fairy Tale of New York" or, best of all, Bob and Doug McKenzie's 12 Days of Christmas (spoiler: they only get to about day 8).
2) which is best: real Christmas tree or fake Christmas tree? Neither, really. We don't do the tree thing. Last time we put up a tree was the first Xmas in our current house, back in 2002 - it was a small potted tree that we then moved to the front yard. The only holiday decoration we bother with is lights on the rail of our small stairway, and sometimes we put some lights on our front window. By the way, I have to say kudos to all of you who use artificial trees. One of the reasons I don't like putting up a tree, besides the bother of it all, is that I hate seeing all of those poor little fir trees get chopped down every year and then thrown to the curb after a few weeks. There should at least be some kind of program to pick up all of those tree for some form of recycling...
11 comments:
Here's two for the price of one:
1) which Christmas songs do you HATE?
2) which is best: real Christmas tree or fake Christmas tree?
Hi, Colin -
The 12 Days of Christmas is an automatic change on the radio dial. Cannot stand that song. I'm also good for one listen each season of McCartney's Wonderful Christmas Time. It's not a bad song, but just really overplayed it seems.
While I like the smell of a real tree, we've had artificial trees 90% of the time since we've been married. The mess of the needles dropping at the end, fitting the trunk to the stand at the beginning... you can have those hassles. We actually just dropped $400 on two new artificial trees a couple of Fridays ago.
Doug
I can't think of a Christmas song I really HATE, but Doug's suggestion of The 12 Days of Christmas is definitely a song I could do without. I'm also more a fan of the upbeat Christmas songs in general.
I guess I'd go with artificial trees. No mess and it's reusable.
1. I dislike songs that have a reference to Christmas in one or two lines, such as "Favorite Things" from Sound of Music. There are so many traditional Christmas songs to listen to, I don't know why some of these find there way into so many repeats during the season.
2. Real trees look nice and smell nice, but they usually aren't sturdy enough to hang some of the ornaments that I like to include in my tree. If Spidey is swinging from branch to branch, those branches need to be strong!
Ever since I really listened to the lyrics, "Baby It's Cold Outside" creeps me out (although I'm not sure if that counts as a Xmas song).
I gotta go with fake; no needles to clean up afterwards.
Mike, I think I heard that someone (John Legend, maybe) has rewritten Baby It's Cold Outside to get rid of the date rape elements. I, too, can do without that song.
DisneyMarvel - agreed on Favorite Things. I've been listening to the Hallmark Christmas channel a bit on Sirius XM. When Rod Stewart comes on singing that track, I'm out.
Doug
I too have a deep loathing for The Twelve Days of Christmas. It's up there with Old McDonald Had a Farm when it comes to songs that resemble instruments of torture. I also can't stand Chris Rea's Driving Home for Christmas, the dullest Christmas song ever written. White Christmas doesn't really float my boat either. Basically, anything dull and sentimental fails to impress me at Yuletide.
Like dbutler, I can't think of any songs that evoke hatred in my heart (and ears). However, I'll risk purest heresy and say I can do without "White Christmas ". Not that its a bad song, obviously it's a classic. But to my ears, it is So Overplayed. Maybe if I only heard it once each season when we watch the movie...
And an artificial tree is our general choice, although we have had a few "live ones"...
Great Qs Colin!
1) Artificial - waaaay easier and more environmentally sensible!
2) 12 Days of Xmas. Sung it way too many times in grade school for Xmas shows.
3) Baby It's Cold Outside is disturbing. But one only need to sample songs from the 40s, 50s, etc. and find that many of them are disturbing for the same reason: "wait, don't go, I want to... you"
4) Favorite Things was not intended as an Xmas song IIRC; it was written for Sound of Music. And if you want to have the time of your life, do Fraulein Maria's "SOM" Bicycle Tour in Salzburg! Pure Joy!
Sorry, late to the office holiday party...
1) which Christmas songs do you HATE?
Um, most of them? Not really a Christmas song guy. In fact, I prefer McCartney's syrupy, kitschy "Wonderful Christmastime" to the more serious stuff people seem to love so much. The only ones I tend to like are the more irreverent ones, like the Kinks' "Father Christmas" or the Pogues' "Fairy Tale of New York" or, best of all, Bob and Doug McKenzie's 12 Days of Christmas (spoiler: they only get to about day 8).
2) which is best: real Christmas tree or fake Christmas tree?
Neither, really. We don't do the tree thing. Last time we put up a tree was the first Xmas in our current house, back in 2002 - it was a small potted tree that we then moved to the front yard. The only holiday decoration we bother with is lights on the rail of our small stairway, and sometimes we put some lights on our front window.
By the way, I have to say kudos to all of you who use artificial trees. One of the reasons I don't like putting up a tree, besides the bother of it all, is that I hate seeing all of those poor little fir trees get chopped down every year and then thrown to the curb after a few weeks. There should at least be some kind of program to pick up all of those tree for some form of recycling...
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