Christmas Songs!!?!

One of our local radio stations began playing “Christmas” music the week before Thanksgiving, and will continue until Christmas day. It is something that they have done for several years now, but it strikes me as funny as what is considered “Christmas” music. At least three or four times a day you can hear Rod Stewart and Dolly Parton sing that old Christmas favorite “Baby it’s cold outside”. I am sure you remember singing this one at church on Christmas Eve during the candlelight service…

“Now really I'd better scurry,
sweetheart, what's your hurry
Well, maybe just a half a drink more,
why don't you put some records on while I pour?”

Ahhh, the memories, singing the good old Christmas songs about men plying young ladies (Dolly Parton – young?) well, ladies with drink, and encouraging them to stay the night.

I will say that it is kind of fun to listen to the songs that they play. (Where else are you going to hear the Band Aid song “Do They Know It’s Christmas” anymore?)
But honestly, if I have to hear the Wham song “Last Christmas” much more, I do not know if I will make it until December 25th. This is the one that features those compelling lines

“Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away,
This year, to save me from tears, I’ll give it someone special….”

I can’t believe that Wham ever had to break up.

So what’s your favorite “Christmas” song?

This blog brought to you today by the fantabulous "Waco Christmas Celebration" at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church!!!

Come on by this weekend, and bring your unsaved friends!

UPDATE: Cliff messaged me last night and said "i like that song...i hadn't heard it before until I heard it on Elf". OK, two things. I am not commenting on the "Likeability" of the song, Secondly, does the fact that the song is sung in a Christmas movie make it a Christmas song? If that is true, then why isn't the Irving Berlin song "Sisters" from "White Christmas" played every year?

"Sisters, Sisters,
There were never such devoted sisters,
Never had to have a chaperone, no sir,
I'm there to keep my eye on her
Caring, sharing
Every little thing that we are wearing
When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome
She wore the dress, and I stayed home"

If it were snowing when the naked one stayed home, would that have made it more Christmas-y? Or should the certain gentleman have arrived from Nome, would that have done it? Just wondering.

A New Post

OK, this is not the usual "Papa Steve" post, in that it is not at all humorous, or even an attempt at humor, but reading this in the paper the other day got me to thinking, so I thought I would share it.

From Letters to the Editor – Waco Tribune Herald - Wednesday, December 06, 2006

‘In Allah, we trust’?

As the first Muslim elected to Congress, Keith Ellison, D-Minn., has chosen to be sworn into office Jan. 7 on the Koran instead of the Bible. Even though he has previously chosen to downplay his religious beliefs, this is a slap in the face for Americans. Some background: In 1992, Ellison helped organize a demonstration against Minneapolis police. He represented a group called United for Peace — consisting of “vice-lords” whose leader was a convicted murderer. In 2000, he gave a speech to the National Lawyer’s Guild speaking favorably of police killers Mumia Abu-Jamal and Assata Shakur. Last year, Shakur was placed on the FBI’s terrorist list with a $1 million reward. Ellison has received funds and support from the Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), some of whose members have been convicted, of supporting terrorists. Many Jews and Mormons have taken oaths of public office using the Bible, though they have their own sacred literature. When all elected officials take their oaths of office with their hands on the very same book, they all affirm that some unifying value system underlies American civilization. This is America, and Ellison is swearing to protect this country — not Islam. When does political correctness end? Although we are made up of many cultures, we should come together as one nation if we are going to survive.

Now I am curious, what do you think about this? I for one, do not take it as a ‘slap in the face’ if this person wants to swear in with his hand on the Koran, nor am I particularly comforted by the knowledge that so many people would take an oath and pledge on the Bible, if they truly do not believe it.

OK, I posted, so what do you have to say?