Comments on: “Frosty the Snowman” and human rights

By: paul

paul — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:03:23 +0000

“Jauchzet, Frohlocket…”

A lot of the lyrics of contemporary xmas songs are, as Suzii says, kinda creepy. Either cupidity creepy or suggestive creepy or authoritarian creepy. Hmm.

By: Gary K

Gary K — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:23:04 +0000

You’re barking up the wrong tree here, Mark. I’d much rather hear the vapid “Frosty” than what Stevie Nicks did to “Silent Night.”

By: James Wimberley

James Wimberley — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:47:23 +0000

The Japanese have both Santa and karaoke. So horror stories please from Tokyo.

By: Jim Holland

Jim Holland — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:54:49 +0000

I agree with the sentiment on the early and repetitive songs, but must object to Mark’s dig at “Jingle Bell Rock”. Having been 10 years old when the original by Bobby Helms was put out in 1957+/-, I have fond memories of it. Bobby Helms was a Hoosier who had other country hits and a rising career when he gave it all up to care for his children when his wife was instituionalized. Now the horrid covers of this song are another story.

By: SamChevre

SamChevre — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:09:13 +0000

I remain unconvinced, and will frimly maintain that “Here Comes Santa Claus” played by animated bears is the single worst piece of Christmas music. (Yes, I once worked a Christmas season in a mall, just down the hall from the bears. How did you guess?)

By: No, We Will Not Be Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree « Around The Sphere

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:08:57 +0000

[...] Mark Kleiman: Heard it today while changing planes in Houston. Even if having to hear that song isn’t covered by the Convention Against Torture, surely there’s a substantive Due Process claim about having to hear it before Thanksgiving. I hope you will all agree with me that Something Should Be Done. [...]

By: H. Shah

H. Shah — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:56:45 +0000

Hey at least with public places you are able to leave the area to escape the auditory torture. My toddler is learning Christmas songs in school right now for a winter show his school is organizing. He sings them all. the. time. I cannot escape it.

By: Donald A. Coffin

Donald A. Coffin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:48:53 +0000

What chrismealy said. If I never hear “The Little Drummer Boy” again, it’ll be way too soon.

By: Eli

Eli — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:23:26 +0000

Scrooge bait.

Frosty’s a kids song. Musically it is shallow and catchy, filled with silly flourishes. But it’s deeper than that – it’s lyrics are about seasonal change and entropy. It’s about love and loss and renewal. It’s a whole lot deeper than most of what ends up being played on the radio. It’s secular but transcendent, with an eye toward existence that goes to the essence of what spirituality has always been about.

By: John A Arkansawyer

John A Arkansawyer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:30:21 +0000

There's a new Xmas standard in town! Play it all night long.

By: Barry

Barry — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:00:01 +0000

Mark: “…surely there’s a substantive Due Process claim about having to hear it before Thanksgiving. I hope you will all agree with me that Something Should Be Done.”

I agree. I figure in a couple of years that music will start on Labor Day, to fuel Labor Day sales.

By: Tweets that mention “Frosty the Snowman” and human rights « The Reality-Based Community -- Topsy.com

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:45:53 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Walter Frick, Mark A.R. Kleiman. Mark A.R. Kleiman said: RBC: "Frosty the Snowman" and human rights http://bit.ly/3ZANk8 [...]

By: Skip Intro

Skip Intro — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:14:52 +0000

I’m surprised there’s no hate for “Santa Baby,” which is a circle of Hell all its own.

By: larry birnbaum

larry birnbaum — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:59:57 +0000

Perhaps it’s just the warm feeling of a slight edge of alienation speaking (only slight — too much is actually, well, alienating). Kind of like that cozy, nostalgiac Christmas Eve feeling at the local Chinese restaurant. But the really good secular American Christmas songs — “White Christmas”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, etc. — I love them.

By: Jay Livingston

Jay Livingston — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:14:56 +0000

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree. Worse, even in August, without being able to blame it on any commercial establishment, I’ve had phrases from it knocking around in my head and been unabl

By: Fred

Fred — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:20:38 +0000

A shopping mall I worked in ran the same forty minute loop from Thanksgiving to New Years. I though I would lose my mind. Perry Como, Andy Williams and Bing Crosby are on the top of my hit list and I don’t mean “The Hit Parade” kind. Somehow I can still listen to Karen Carpenter.

By: Suzii

Suzii — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:52:23 +0000

Also, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” is creepy.

By: Suzii

Suzii — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:50:54 +0000

I’ll listen to a hundred “Jingle Bell Rocks” if you promise me I never have to listen to another one of those songs that are lists of presents. (“Here Comes Santa Claus,” “I’m Gettin’ Nuttin” … that stuff.) I’ll accept a “Two Front Teeth” once a year or so on the grounds that it’s actually about a present the cute little kidling wants to *give* somebody.

By: bemused

bemused — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:26:31 +0000

In general I agree completely, but I must admit a soft spot for “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”.

By: K

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:19:43 +0000

As w/ a lot of these things, the lyrics are actually vaguely sinister. A shame Bob Dylan didn’t think to include it on his Christmas album.

By: J. Michael Neal

J. Michael Neal — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:17:15 +0000

The only justification for claiming “Jingle Bell Rock” as the worst secular Christmas song is that you must never have had to listen to “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” It must be a northern thing.

By: DonBoy

DonBoy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:59:59 +0000

Two oldies stations in Boston went all-Christmas by the end of last week.

By: yoyo

yoyo — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:57:14 +0000

The bigger problem is the pool of songs contains about two dozen, tops.

By: chrismealy

chrismealy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:56:23 +0000

The worst is “Little Drummer Boy.”

Mel Torme’s secular “The Christmas Song” ain’t too bad.