Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Ricochet Christmas Music Fight Club: The Incredible Second Fight!
Like the Ricochet Movie Fight Club of happy memory and the still-living Ricochet Dueling Book Club, the Ricochet Christmas Music Fight Club is a place for fighting to the death over who has the best answer to a selected question of the week. I plan to post the RCMFC around Friday or Saturday each week until Christmas. Whoever’s answer gets the most likes wins! The winner of the first four fights selects the question for the next week.
In addition to the joys of verbal combat, let’s remember that the RCMFC is meant to be a place for sharing beautiful Christmas music. Let’s have fun!
Last week’s battle saw @andrewmiller victorious with the Muppets’ version of “Carol of the Bells”! This week, Andrew asks us:
What is one of your favorite light-hearted Christmas songs?
You know what to do now: Answer the question, and fight about it!
(Reminders: Fight, but don’t be a jerk. And share some Christmas joy even if we are pretending to be fighting!)
Published in General
Nightmare is a Halloween song :p
Its the Nightmare before Christmas. Santa is in it.
The nightmare before Christmas is Halloween. I know for some of you it’s thanksgiving, but the song clearly intends the subject to be Halloween.
Its Jack, the Pumpkin King, in the land of Halloween. Who invades Christmas to kidnap Santa… Its a strange thing – but it is about Christmas:
Kidnap Mr Sandy Claws:
But . . . but she’d already given birth at that point. Unless she gives birth between the words “Round yon virgin” and “mother and child.” Or, I’ll even give you a quick birth just before “Holy infant, so tender and mild.” But that’s not very long.
I suspect instead that “All is calm, all is bright ’round yon virgin” . . . that is to say, the calmness and brightness was around her.
So . . . Imma say your Christmas Tip is wrong.
Who will fight by my side!?
You don’t lose the baby weight all at once.
Sure, but there’s still deflation.
Originally not a Christmas song.
It’s wrong. It doesn’t even use the word “round” properly. It’s a preposition describing where things are calm and bright, not an adjective modifying “virgin.”
But I enjoy stupid jokes like this. That’s all.
Ricochet Christmas Music Fight Club: The Amazing Third Fight!
Obviously it’s supposed to be ’round as in around but just one syllable to make the lyrics work out.
Indeed. If you read the words.
As a kid singing these songs and not always understanding that the song lines didn’t match the sentences, that was less clear. I think I probably spent over 10 years not having a clue what that line meant.
And then there’s “We three kings of orient-arr.” What’s an orient-arr? Or is it “orien-tar”? Did it ever occur to me as a child to think “We three kings of orient . . . are bearing gifts”? No, I don’t think it ever occurred to me.
I can’t make it funny, but a real Christmas tip is “G-d rest ye merry” is a complete thought, “merry” not even modifying “gentlemen.”
I think the problems here have to do with musical phrasing and when you take a breath.
all is calm all is bright
‘round yon virgin
mother and child
Bit the phrasing should be more like
all is calm, all is bright ‘round yon
virgin mother and child
You’ve all got it wrong. The lyric is “Round John Virgin.”
😜
“Mis-heard song lyrics” is a long-time denizen of the internet, including now youtube.
In my youth, there were some people living next door who vacationed in Costa Rica most summers, and were very good with the Spanish language. Yet somehow their teenage son thought that the oft-repeated expression “Do the Hustle” from the song “The Hustle” was really “doola honto.” Which I’m pretty sure doesn’t make any sense in Spanish either.
My chick brought the gingerbread cookies to the table for dessert, and it suddenly occurred to me that “gingerbread” has the same rhythm as “jingle bells.” So ridiculous Christmas lyrics had to happen.
Gingerbread, gingerbread,
Ginger all the way.
Oh what fun it is to eat gingerbread today!
(Hey!)
Gingerbread, gingerbread,
Ginger all the way.
Oh what fun it is to eat gingerbread today!
A day or two ago,
I thought I’d read a book.
I found Confucius on my shelf,
And thought I’d take a look.
While reading through Part Ten,
What story did I find?
This wise old philosopher
ate ginger all the time!
Oh . . . gingerbread, gingerbread,
Ginger all the way.
Oh what fun it is to eat gingerbread today!
Or maybe just sometimes. I couldn’t rightly say for sure myself. Analects, Book X:
Sorry, but “Oh what fun it is to eat gingerbread today!” doesn’t match up with “Oh what fun it is to ride, in a one-horse open sleigh!”
It does if you sing “in a” and “one-horse” fast enough. Like nearly everyone does.
I tend to go with number of syllables, as song lyrics are written.
Ideally, yes.
Just need to come up with a few more words to add to your version.
And sacrifice the fun of “eat gingerbread today”?
No.
“to be eating” seems to fit the rhythm better than “to eat”
Sing it how you like.
I don’t see what’s better about that. Instead of just saying words you have to say “tobeeating.” But I guess it works.
My suggestion on another post, “It’s David French Again,” has the same number of syllables as “It’s Howdy Doody Time” so it works even though the last two words don’t each have the same number of syllables as the original.
Not sure how that’s relevant. Some words are gonna be a bit weird no matter what we do.
It doesn’t sound right if you speed up “gingerbread today” so much that you don’t have to speed up “to be eating” at all. That leaves us with the option of singing “tobeeating” with the words all squished up like “toride” and “onehorse,” which is fine, or of just making “eat” slightly longer, which is not worse for any reason I can see.
I guess I’m so used to “ride in a one-horse open sleigh” that the lack of syllables in your version trips me up. But you youngsters can go ahead and enjoy your gingerbread version. :-)