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Duly Quoted

And strange it is / That nature must compel us to lament / Our most persisted deeds.”
-- William Shakespeare

, Antony and Cleopatra


Tom Christensen
("xensen") . tom [at] rightreading.com
 

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Another Volley in the War on Christmas

The Martrydom of Nicholas, by Francisco de Goya and Thomas Christensen

The Martyrdom of Nicholas,
by Francisco de Goya and Thomas Christensen

Top Ten Seasonal Songs That Don’t Mention Christmas

As a public service to those who will be entertaining Muslims, Buddhists, Wiccans, Jews, and the like this holiday season, I offer this list:

1. Deck the Halls
2. Frosty the Snowman
3. Gloucestershire Wassail
4. Happy Holidays
5. Jinglebell Rock
6. Jingle Bells
7. Let It Snow
8. Pretty Paper
9. Sleigh Ride
10. Winter Wonderland

The list is alphabetical. If ranked for best lyrics, the award would go to “Gloucestershire Wassail,” for these stirring sentiments:

Wassail, wassail all over the town!
Our bread it is white and our ale it is brown,
Our bowl, it is made of the good maple tree;
From the wassailing bowl we’ll drink unto thee.

Come, butler, and fill us a bowl of your best,
And we hope your soul in Heaven may rest;
But if you do bring us a bowl of the small,
Then down shall go butler and bowl and all.

Come here, sweet maid, in the frilly white smock,
Come trip to the door and trip back the lock!
Come trip to the door and pull back the pin,
And let us jolly wassailers in.

Wassail, by the way, is a spice punch drink. The name comes from the Old English/Norse “to be in good health.” I’ll drink to that.

Comments

Pingback from blog.rightreading.com » Instant Christmas Classic
Time: December 24, 2006, 11:08 am

[...] I posted before about Christmas songs that don’t mention Christmas. For balance, here’s a song that mentions Christmas quite a lot — an instant Christmas classic from Eric Idle. [...]

Pingback from blog.rightreading.com » A Christmas tradition
Time: December 3, 2007, 5:10 am

[...] Below: The Martyrdom of Nicholas, 2006, colored pixels, by Thomas Christensen and Francisco de Goya. (Last year I also listed the top ten seasonal songs that don’t mention Christmas.) [...]

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