"Feliz Navidad" Friday: Christmas Songs

It's the day after Thanksgiving, which means I can officially start spazzing about Christmas without making everyone mad at me.  So every Friday until after Christmas, I'll be posting about Christmasy things.  If I had my way, I'd probably post about Christmas all the time.  I love Christmas!  I kinda celebrate it all year long, but most people don't appreciate me talking about it/playing Christmas music/singing Christmas songs/watching Christmas movies/decorating/etc. all year long, so I try to control it.  But now, everyone who celebrates Christmas is free to celebrate it openly, so I am, too.  Yes, my friends, it is officially the most wonderful time of the year.

And speaking of "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," I want to point out right now that Andy Williams should be the only one allowed to sing that song.  Ever. 

I feel that way about a lot of Christmas songs.  I have fallen in love with one particular version of a song, and any other version just sounds/feels completely wrong.  And this is problematic because everyone and their mother likes to cover Christmas songs that have already reached perfection.  Andy Williams' "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is the definitive version, yet every year I hear the radio stations playing some other version.  Come on people; you can't improve upon Andy Williams. 



And if you're not Gene Autry, then you should not be recording your own jazzed up version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."  "Frosty the Snowman" is only supposed to be sung by Jimmy Durante.  Judy Garland has to sing "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas." "White Christmas" belongs to Bing Crosby.  And if I hear any other version besides Burl Ives' "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas," I seriously want to go find the person who recorded the other version and punch him/her in the face.  And that's not very Christmasy, so please don't drive me to that point.



I'm also quite partial to Manheim Steamroller's version of "Deck the Halls."  I'm not sure why, but the upbeat synthesized melody is like audible happiness.  Maybe it's because this version has no annoying lyrics about trolling ancient yuletide carols, or maybe it's just because it reminds me of Disney's Main Street Electrical Parade...I don't know.  All I know is that I really don't like any other version of "Deck the Halls," but there's something about Manheim Steamroller that makes me feel good.



Now, as far as the "Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum-pum Song" (AKA "The Little Drummer Boy") goes, most versions are corny, and some of them make me want to pa-rum-pum-pum-pum-pum my head against a brick wall, but there is one version that's actually quite good.  The Jars of Clay version of "Little Drummer Boy" is the best. 



Now, one of my favorite Christmas carols happens to be "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."  When Casting Crowns came out with their version, which is a little bit different from the traditional carol, I kind of got a little pouty.  But the thing is, the more I listened to it, the more I discovered I kind of liked it (maybe more than the traditional carol, but probably not--the jury is still out).  But then, if you include a good children's ensemble, then almost any Christmas song becomes better.





My absolute favorite Christmas carol is "Joy to the World," (just about any version--Handel wrote the music, so that's why it's awesome) but I also really like "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," "Angels We Have Heard on High," and "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." And recently (as in the past three years or so), I've been obsessed with a song by Todd Agnew called "God With Us."  If you haven't heard it, you need to, so here you go:



"God With Us" comes from an album entitled "Do You See What I See?" which comes from the song, "Do You Hear What I Hear?".  "Do You Hear What I Hear?" is probably one of the most ridiculous songs ever.  Tim Hawkins has a great sketch that explains this ridiculousness:



So, what are your favorite Christmas songs, and what versions do you like the best?  Are there any Christmas songs you don't understand or that you hate?

Fill-in-the-Blank Friday: The Other (New) Project(s) I'm Working On

The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that the main reason God gave me a decent singing voice was because I sing all the time.  I sing in the choir at church.  I sing in the car.  I sing in the shower.  I sing while working with the kids.  I sing in my apartment for no apparent reason.  I sing when I'm walking down the aisle in the grocery store.  I even sing when I run sometimes--though that sounds a lot more like loosely organized wheezing and panting.  Seriously, the seven-year-old I watch told me that all my singing was starting to annoy her, and when the seven-year-old says stuff like that, it means there's a problem.  Or that she just likes to be rude.  Or both.

So anyway, I sing a lot, and if I couldn't carry a tune, it would be even more annoying.  So God decided to do the world a favor and give me a voice that doesn't suck too much most of the time.

However, since my voice doesn't suck too much most of the time, and since the poetry I've written is only good enough to be modified into sappy song lyrics, I tried writing some songs.  This required the ability to play an instrument.  Or at least the ability to pretend I can play an instrument.

Marching Band wasn't my thing (sorry, Mom).  The flute wasn't my instrument (sorry again, Mom).  The guitar is my instrument!  Actually, the guitar isn't really my instrument either, but I don't let little things like a lack of mad guitar skills keep me from pretending I can play.  My sister and brother did marching band; I took guitar lessons.  My brother and sister were band geeks; I was a wannabe hippy geek.  Only, most awesome guitar players teach themselves guitar, and most bad guitar players take lessons.  I am no exception.  I took lessons.  For maybe like a year when I was sixteen/seventeen.  I haven't improved much since then.  I might have even gotten worse.

I tried taking a piano class for a semester.  We shall not speak of it.

Ever.

So with my horrible poetry skills, my mastery of 7 guitar chords, and voice that doesn't suck too much most of the time (and about 15 years of bad song writing), I've managed to write about 20 decent songs.  I've written more than that, of course, but some of them are so bad that I want to forget about them--like that semester of piano class.

I've been meaning to do something with them for a while now, but the time hasn't worked out.  So I really need to get my act together and contact the nice dude to actually set up a time to actually record some of these songs.  I was considering donating all proceeds of sales from these cds, and I'd still like to do that, but there's something that bothers me.  All Most Some of the songs I want to record are, well, dreadful.  And I don't really think most people would want to pay a set fee for songs that are, well, dreadful.  Unless you're just a glutton for punishment.  Or my mom.  Who payed $200 for a flute I can't remember how to play, not that I could ever really play to begin with.  Sorry, Mom.

One of my friends recently told me about a site called bandcamp.com, which enables artists (after I record something, can I consider myself a recording artist?  Oh yeah!) to offer their music for download, and it enables listeners to name their own price for that download.   I'd love to be able to get my music out there for a "suggested donation" type deal.  And that "suggested donation" would go to "The Creative Ministries of Ruth Campbell."  Which is a fancy way of saying I'd be getting the "suggested donations."

But that's just with the first cd.  I'd like to record a second one, which will hopefully be more awesome because I'd hopefully be getting lots of donations from the first cd to help me make the second cd more awesome (like with liner notes and stuff).  Because the second cd is actually going to have some of my more awesome songs on it.  And it's going to have an awesome theme.  It's actually going to be serious--because I'm awesome enough to be able to be serious sometimes.  And I really would like to donate all the proceeds from the second cd, because I think that would be an awesome thing to do.  And I really do like the word awesome, don't you?

So stay tuned.  And if you feel as though you've been staying tuned long enough and I'm still dragging my feet, feel free to poke me. 

And I might write a song about it.

SEW Sunday: Boot Camp

(SEW Sundays are where I rant about discuss what's going on with the queries I am SENDING to agents, my EDITING, and my WRITING.)

Okay, so here's the thing.  I don't have much of anything going on.  I keep saying I'm going to do stuff, but the week goes by and I haven't done much.  I do have excuses as usual--such as the fact that I was insanely busy working my last week of working preschool, only to jump into house/dog/cat sitting and working my other two jobs.

And since I'm house/dog/cat sitting, I have access to more than seven channels on tv, so I've logged a few hours watching reruns of House and watching dumb movies.  I even caught an episode of "Saved By the Bell: The College Years" which is arguably the worst show ever made.  Okay, so I'm pretty sure that award actually goes to "Yo Gabba Gabba."  ...or "The Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters From Beverly Hills" (I promise that's a real show--it's too horrible to be something I just made up).

So yeah.  I'm a loser who has nothing to show for herself this week.

OH WAIT!  I did write two songs.  Complete with music.  Yay me (not really)!  One of them I think is probably the best song I've ever written--but by next week I'll probably find something I hate about it.  I mean, that's usually how it goes.

Also, with this week being so weird and stuff, I've let my diet/exercise slip completely.  I had a minor injury to my back on Monday (leaning over to pick up a toy...I'm like an old person), so exercise has been out.  And I wanted to eat pasta and cake and ice cream...and pretty much everything else in sight.  So I did.  And my pants are very snug now...

Boot camp starts tomorrow...theoretically.  Boot camp will hopefully include a return to a regular exercise routine with lots of sweaty running (I'm SO excited the weather forecast is calling for temps in the mid 90's...ugh).  It will also hopefully include a return to a strict 1200 calories per day diet.  It will hopefully also include some actual DISCIPLINE in my writing life.  I have got to send out some queries.  I mean, it's kind of hard to find a literary agent if you're not sending them anything to let them know you exist.  I also need to get some guts and make some progress with this song project--at least I think I do.  If I keep writing new songs like this, I might need to make plans for TWO upcoming cds....

Hmm...either way, I will eventually need some guts.  Do they sell those at Wal-mart?

So pray for me as I try to get my act together.  The Ruth version of boot camp is not like real boot camp (my version includes LOTS more procrastination, whining, and general lameness), but I'm still pretty sure I'm not going to like it a whole lot.

SEW Monday?!?!

I'm updating on a Monday, which I usually don't do, but I just got back from my weekend trip to KY, and I kind of just want to type for a bit to get it out of my system.

I don't promise that the sentence above will be my only run-on sentence in this blog post.  Be kind.  I was on the road 10+ hours today with only a few Dragons to keep me company.  Okay, so I did go visit with a wonderful friend and her little girl, but it was mostly just me and the Dragons.  And some Mitch McVicker cds.

He writes/plays/sings the best driving music.

Turns out, I write some decent songs myself...though most of them aren't good driving music (they're better, uh...sleeping music).  Now, they're not Mitch McVicker quality, by any means.  My guitar playing lacks, er, shall we say...mad skills.  And my insane operatic vibrato doesn't really make for excellent easy listening music.  But I've been wanting to put out a cd for over a decade.  I was afraid to do it before, and really, I don't think I was ready.  I think I am now.  I've written some good songs.  The Lord has given me the desire to raise some money for a specific cause, and he's given me just enough talent to perhaps be able to do that.

And the mountain roads are the best places in the world to clear your head, make some decisions...

...and I think it's time.  I've got a business card from a guy who can maybe help me record my songs (hopefully for free).  I've got some friends who can help me with some photos and maybe even some graphic design (again, hopefully for free).  I'd like to get a cd out fairly soon and donate most of the proceeds (if not all of them...I might have some production expenses even if I get lots of freebies). This is an idea I've had for about six months, and I'm thinking that it's about high time that THUNDERCATS ARE GO!

I wrote a few poems this weekend, but otherwise I've had little time for writing.  I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things this week--or maybe next week.  My head still feels all buzzy and fuzzy from driving all day.  As for the querying--hopefully that will start up again soon, too.  I really think my main focus needs to be on this musical project, though.  And it still counts as writing since it's all original work.  So there.

I have a feeling I'm going to be off all week and think that tomorrow is Monday instead of Tuesday, so hopefully I will get back to my poor semblance of a blogging schedule by Wednesday.  

I miss the mountains.