This belongs here this week. Comedian Patton Oswalt takes on a Christian holiday song awash in misery. If you are easily offended or surrounded by children, you may want to take a pass. Otherwise, enjoy!
The end of
the year holiday season brings a mix joy and sadness to many folk. It is the
nature of this time of year that leads us to look back at the year behind us
and forward to the year ahead.
Now, you
can look either direction in joy or sadness, and there’s a benefit to each. One
wouldn’t want to be the grasshopper all the time, nor the ant who knows nothing
but work. It’s all in the balance.
Parsley,
Sage, Rosemary & Thyme was one of the first 33 RPM LPs I owned – my music
tastes at that time were as unfocused as they are today: a little of everything.
We are talking 1966. Free Love. The Hippie culture. Major Civil Rights action
was in the works in the US. For
Americans, the economy still seemed to promise a better future. On the other hand,
we had the Vietnam War. Kind of like my music tastes: all over the place. Some
up. Some down.
It's not 12-bar blues, but Silent
Night/7 O’clock News gets right to the heart of the dichotomy, doesn’t it? The
contrast between the ethereal, hopeful Christmas classic that extends the
possibility of a better future and the downright depressing facts on the ground
as presented in the evening news is sheer genius. Simple and effective. A steady, minimal piano backing and prominently sweet vocals - laced with a cuttingly dry newsreader voice-over. I
wonder if there is as much left to the audience’s interpretation of this song as
we generally credit art with, or if it is masterfully directed to provoke a
single given response. It certainly requires me to take a deep breath and push
the images of the song behind me before I can look forward to the new year with
joy and hope. And you don't need to watch any of the other image-laden versions to get the picture.
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