Christmas carols

I have been listening to a radio station that is all Christmas all day long, and I am amazed at the number of versions of the old standbys. "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus" by a very young Michael Jackson, by Elvis Presley, and by Peggy Lee, played back to back to back is a revelation. And "The Little Drummer Boy "- I wish someone would do a version with a steel drum playing instead of singing that darn "pahrumpumpum" over and over and over! I'm getting to the point where I want to pound the kid with his own sticks. What sort of a thing is that to do for a baby - play on a drum? You've just given birth - in a stable! It's cold, it's dark, the sheep are eructating, the cows are moving things through all seven stomaches, and some damnfool kid wants to play his drum? Why can't he give the gift of a silent night? And the three wisemen? Anyone who knows American dialects knows they are visitors from Georgia who smell a bit smokey because, "We have come from a far." (say fire with a southern drawl.)

I'm enjoying the music quite a lot, and singing along with many of the songs. (run,run reindeer!) I used to be in a church choir, but it's been years since I've sung regularly, and I've lost four or five notes off each end of the range, so when I shoot for some of those high descants, it sounds as if someone has just goosed a gibbon. Oh dear - would Christmas apes be Yule gibbons?