"MY FAVORITE THINGS"--STOP THE CHRISTMAS MADNESS

I like Christmas/Holiday music--there I've said it, it's out there, now everybody knows.  I have over 1000 of them in a playlist on my iPod.  Sometimes when I need a lift I will just put on the playlist no matter the month--April, July, October, whatever.  I pretty much know all the songs by heart, yes a lot of them are different versions of the same song but so what.  I do prefer the upbeat ones like Mariah Carey and Andy Williams (see links on sidebar to left).  I take pride in the fact that I have so many songs and like to listen to them unabashedly from my radio wake up, if we are in the car or when I can get away with it at work.

Thus it is because of this that I can say with authority that "My Favorite Things"---IT'S NOT A F***KING CHRISTMAS SONG.  Here are the lyrics for the song:

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

Written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for "The Sound of Music" on Broadway in 1959 it was sung by Mary Martin who played the Maria character in the original stage production--and yes that's probably one of the gayest things I will ever say.  Granted some of the lyrics mention sleigh bells and snowflakes but that's it.  The song is sung in the play/movie on a warm summer night when there is a thunderstorm that is scaring the kids so Maria sings the song to make them feel better.  It ain't Christmas time and she ain't singing it as a carol--period.  

I lay a lot of the blame for this on Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross and the Supremes--yes love them--and yes blaming them.  In 1965 when the movie version of "The Sound of Music" was HUGE, The Supremes put out Merry Christmas with the Supremes  and included the song then this talented funny Jewish girl decided to record a Christmas album and to put this song on it also.  Both albums became hits and perennial bestsellers and since then everyone from Tony Bennett to Luther Vandross have recorded the song for holiday albums.  Every time I hear it during the holidays I scream loudly THIS IS NOT A CHRISTMAS SONG scaring folks and little children around me then I either change the station or leave whatever store I am in that's playing it.  

So I say everyone take a stand, make a pledge and sign a petition to get this song permanently banned from Christmas radio playlists and from any future holiday album.  Leave the song to the joys of "The Sound of Music" for which it was written and bask in the glory of the only version that matters as sung by Julie Andrews (sorry Mary Martin) and throw the rest on the yule log to burn to dust while listening to true holiday songs like "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer"!  Okay not that but you know what I mean.  

Answer to previous trivia question: Riga Latvia 1510

This posts trivia question:  What's the biggest selling Christmas song of all-time?