FIFTY DAYS OF ‘MERICA-MAS
Middle America! Corn Belt! Bible Belt! Santa’s Belt covering his belly of corn!
Matthew Vaughan leans back on what looks like a college parking structure and, between flipping pages reading, strums his three chords to sing The Iowan State Song to the tune of ‘O Christmas Tree’ (which he refers to as Lauriger Horatius). Clever stuff. Bit sophomoric (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
britehorn.com threw together a political spoof of carols an election ago. I don’t cater to these, like i won’t address team parodies… but it’s fairly funny and mostly timely now. It’s the so-called “Fox News Christmas Album: Republican Christmas in Iowa.” Ha, two thousand twelve, ha.
Because i’m having fun hardly finding Hawkeye stuff, I have to give a shout out to a couple local yokel Des Moinesians: ‘Biggy B’ and ‘K David.’ their “Christmas List, Yo” busted my nut with chuckles. I am going to totally reference that at another time on this blog.
Now I can’t go Mulberry Lane’s “Christmas in Iowa,” because they have identical NB and WI versions and, yes it’s bouncy and fun for a XXIst C noel, but it’s got no statewide identity and i… i just can’t Okay?
So I’m left with “Winter in Iowa” by Roger Boggs. He’s raw, he’s modern folk, he’s a mash up of Kris Kristofferson and Bob Dylan (oh look, he’s got a harmonica!). I dig his love life attitudes and his playin’ into the wind, whether or not anyone’s listenin’ (the mark of a true musician). His song feels like the season. Button up!