“If It Doesn’t Snow on Christmas,” Gene Autry, 1949
Singing cowboy Gene Autry is very well known for Christmas music, in addition to recording several standards, he wrote “Here Comes Santa Claus.” A B-side for the more well-known “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “If It Doesn’t Snow on Christmas” is interesting because for whatever reason, it seems to ignore the fact that Santa’s reindeer can fly.
“Little Saint Nick,” The Beach Boys, 1963
I hail from South Texas, so it is a little bit harder for me to relate to songs about snow and ice and roaring fires. The only fires I experience in December are those started inside of a barbeque grill. The Beach Boys set Santa’s reindeer aside in favor of “a little bobsled called Little Saint Nick.” Appropriately enough, the song’s structure comes from “Little Deuce Coupe.”
“Winter Wonderland,” The Eurythmics, 1987
Except for their big hits, I’m not terribly familiar with The Eurythmics’ music, but their synth-ed up version of Winter Wonderland really does it for me. It stays true to the standard, but The Eurythmics really make it their own. Nothing says 1980s quite like synthesizers!
“Please Come Home for Christmas,” The Eagles, 1978
In the interest of keeping my spirits (and yours) up, I’ve decided to post a different Christmas song here every day. I love Christmas, I enjoy music and so it seems appropriate to celebrate the ‘sounds of the season.’ In addition to the standards, I hope to drop in a few oddballs here and there. Enjoy!
I’ll start out with my all-time favorite: “Please Come Home for Christmas.” Originally recorded by Charles Brown in 1960, the version most folks will be familiar with is this 1978 Eagles cover. To this day, those first four piano notes still make my eyes misty whenever I hear them. I find it odd that I like the song so much because the lyrics are a bit on the depressing side, because nearly all of my Christmases have been joyous affairs. Then again, it is The Eagles, and who doesn’t like The Eagles?
Hikkari Pikkari!
I had the pleasure of interviewing Nobuo Uematsu and Arnie Roth last year for Original-Gamer.com. Uematsu and Roth are responsible for helping take game music out of the living room and into the concert hall with their successful “Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy” orchestral concert series. After the interview, Mr. Uematsu presented me with a gift, a copy of “Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories.” I graciously accepted, though I wasn’t sure what to make of it at the time.
“Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories” is a children’s album, and as the name implies, each of the ten songs tells a story. The album is very much a product of Japan, as subjects range from the ordinary to the mythological to the poignant to the fun and the just plain bonkers.
The album starts out with the tropical beats of “Here Comes Conga Boy” followed by the harmonica-laden, “Gimme Gimme,” which is about a kid who goes around asking anyone and everyone for money. Things take a turn for the odd with “Hikkari Pikkari,” a story about a sprite who’s job is to reflect the sun’s rays off of his shiny bald head and onto the Earth. “No Worries!” carries a message about being happy with who you are…even if you happen to be a penguin. “Whistle A Song” is a happy ditty about the voyage of life, and “The Incredible Flying Natsuhiko” features the star-crossed lovers of Tanabata. The tone goes back to not-so-serious with “Coconut Castaway” and “The Chef Who Used His Noodle” the second of which chronicles the creation of a certain noodle dish. “Every New Morning” is a lullaby, as a mother wishes her child a good night. “Revenge of the 5-Foot Swhail” is the rock lament of a Power Rangers-esque villain who laments about his kids being made fun of in school. The Swhail wishes his adversary would declare: “Without the Swhail I would be lost/Unemployed and eating taco sauce.”
As one would expect out of an album intended for kids, “10 Short Stories” has a pop feel to it. That said, the songs feature a wide variety of different instruments and styles. Bongo drums, violins, synthesizers, and electric guitars are found throughout. As if to reinforce the cuteness of it all, the songs are all sung by a young girl. While it does get a bit sticky-sweet, that’s probably the point.
Despite the fact that I’m about 30 years beyond its intended audience, I found “Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories” to be a quirky album filled with cute, fun, catchy songs with my favorites being “Whistle A Song” and “Gimme Gimme.” I’ll give it a listen whenever I need a smile, and you’re never too old for that!
4 out of 5 Swhails.
“Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories” (English Version) is available for purchase on iTunes. The author received no compensation for this review and can be contacted at edsoliz@gmail.com
I had the pleasure of interviewing Nobuo Uematsu and Arnie Roth last year for Original-Gamer.com. Nobuo and Arnie are partially responsible for taking game music out of the living room and into the concert hall with their successful “Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy” concert series. After the interview, Mr. Uematsu presented me with a gift, a copy of “Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories.” I graciously accepted, though I wasn’t sure what to make of it at the time.
“Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories” is a children’s album, and as the name implies, each of the ten songs tells a story. The album is very much a product of Japan: subjects range from the ordinary (Gimme Gimme) to the mythological (The Incredible Flying Natsuhiko) to the poignant (Whistle a Song, Every New Morning) to the fun (Here Comes Conga Boy, Coconut Castaway, The Chef Who Used His Noodle) to the just plain bonkers (No Worries!, Hikkari Pikkari, Revenge of the 5-Foot Swhail).
As one would expect out of an album intended for kids, “10 Short Stories” has a pop feel to it. The music features a wide variety of different instruments and styles. Bongo drums, violins, synthesizers, and electric guitars are found throughout. As if to reinforce the cuteness of it all, the songs are all sung by a young girl. While it does get a bit sticky-sweet, that’s probably the point.
Despite the fact that I’m about 30 years beyond its intended audience, I found “I had the pleasure of interviewing Nobuo Uematsu and Arnie Roth last year for Original-Gamer.com. Nobuo and Arnie are partially responsible for taking game music out of the living room and into the concert hall with their successful “Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy” concert series. After the interview, Mr. Uematsu presented me with a gift, a copy of “Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories.” I graciously accepted, though I wasn’t sure what to make of it at the time.
“Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories” is a children’s album, and as the name implies, each of the ten songs tells a story. The album is very much a product of Japan: subjects range from the ordinary (Gimme Gimme) to the mythological (The Incredible Flying Natsuhiko) to the poignant (Whistle a Song, Every New Morning) to the fun (Here Comes Conga Boy, Coconut Castaway, The Chef Who Used His Noodle) to the just plain bonkers (No Worries!, Hikkari Pikkari, Revenge of the 5-Foot Swhail).
As one would expect out of an album intended for kids, “10 Short Stories” has a pop feel to it. The music features a wide variety of different instruments and styles. Bongo drums, violins, synthesizers, and electric guitars are found throughout. As if to reinforce the cuteness of it all, the songs are all sung by a young girl. While it does get a bit sticky-sweet, that’s probably the point.
Despite the fact that I’m about 30 years beyond its intended audience, I found “Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories” to be a quirky album filled with cute, fun, catchy songs; my favorites being “Whistle A Song” and “Gimme Gimme.” I’ll fire it up whenever I need a smile, and you’re never too old for that!
4 out of 5 Swhails.
“Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories” (English Version) is available for purchase on iTunes. The author received no compensation for this review and can be contacted at edsoliz@gmail.com
Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories” to be a quirky album filled with cute, fun, catchy songs; my favorites being “Whistle A Song” and “Gimme Gimme.” I’ll fire it up whenever I need a smile, and you’re never too old for that!
4 out of 5 Swhails.
“Nobuo Uematsu’s 10 Short Stories” (English Version) is available for purchase on iTunes. The author received no compensation for this review and can be contacted at edsoliz@gmail.com
I went shopping for a pair of headphones today. Now that I have a job where I can listen to music while I work, my MP3 player will be getting a lot more use. I am also exercising again, and music makes the time on the treadmill go quicker.
With this in mind, I head to the Big Electronics Store nearby. I ponder my choices…ear buds, ear buds with squishy things on the ends, around-the-ear clip things with ear buds, earbuds that go around the back of your head, and a headphone-looking thing with earbuds on the ends.
I sigh and walk out of the store, because for the life of me, I CANNOT FARKING WEAR EARBUDS! Something about my ears is not right, because after about 5 minutes in there, they hurt like hell. Thus, I have to wear the old-school headphones that go over the top of your head with the speakers on the ends that go on the outside of the ear.
I begrudgingly go to the discount retailer nearby and find a set of “classic” headphones, cursing the “cool kids” under my breath with their iPods and white earbuds every step of the way.
I’m one of those oddballs who genuinely likes Christmas music. From the hymns sung in church, to the classics, to the contemporary renditions of those classics, I love it all. Suffice it to say, every radio I own has been almost completely locked to the local Christmas music 24/7 station (101.9). While unpacking my things from visiting the folks for Thanksgiving today, I turned on the radio for some background music, and decided to tune to a different radio station for a little while…come to find out there are now TWO radio stations doing the 24/7 Christmas music thing (105.3 being the second)
The Grinches out there may want to stay away from the radio this holiday season. I love it, though.
I love the Christmas season: the music, the hustle and bustle, baking Christmas cookies, shopping for gifts. Unlike most folks, I actually like listening to Christmas music, and keep my radio locked onto the local radio station playing 24-hour-a-day Christmas tunes.
My favorite contemporary Christmas song is the Eagles’ rendition of “Please Come Home For Christmas.” Its actually a pretty depressing song, go figure.
Anyways, I was happy to hear that the Christmas-a-thon was going to begin today, until the alarm clock went off and I heard “Baby, Its Cold Outside” somehow, it just didn’t feel right. I guess even for me its a little TOO early right now.
Maybe next week. 🙂
I think I just found my new favorite Rock Band song.
Jonathan Coulton kicks ass!
I was feeling bummed out this evening; I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately for a variety of reasons, but even more so today. The oddest things can sometimes snap me out of a case of the blues, though.
After the death of a relative some years ago, reading the “The Death and Return of Superman” comics helped me deal with the loss. Red Beans and Rice (with Sausage!) from Souper Salad picked me up a few years ago when I was depressed over the lousy employment situation I was in at the time.
For whatever reason, though, tonight the blues-buster was Karaoke Revolution. I’ve only sang karaoke once in public, but thanks to this game I can croon away in the privacy of my home without humiliation, save for the barbs of Virtual Simon Cowell.
I played for a few hours, managed to top a few high scores, and I felt much better when I was done. I tried to stick to the fun songs, but I will admit to indulging in the occasional weepy love song. A perfect score for “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” remains just beyond my reach, though -sigh-
I guess I’ve learned that when listening to music isn’t enough, performing it has a stronger effect, even if your audience is a virtual one. I wonder if Guitar Hero works just as well. Now I really want to buy Rock Band.
Virtual Simon found my rendition of “Here I Go Again” to be ‘atrocious.’ Jerk.
Eduardo Soliz 