United We Christmas Tree Stand: wars unwon

The Vietnam War brought out Americans’ outspoken freedom of speech, Americans’ ruthless passion for ideals, Americans’ noncompromising polarization, and Americans’ (eventual) potential for limitless brotherhood and devotion to one another as a people.

During the struggle, our songs reflected our nation’s soul, especially honorin’ The Holiday.

The Soul Searchers’ “Christmas in Vietnam” is soulful soul, poignant piety, and brotherhood. Yeah, that means sad.

Pvt. Charles Bowens & The Gentlemen from Tigerland also add soul to “Christmas in Vietnam.” It’s got a bit more motown drive to it, though.

Dumb ol’ country hick singing from Jack Cardwell makes “Christmas in Vietnam” ironically morose. Keep the Kleenex (and a thank-you note) nearby. The Sullivan Family add a high-stepping beat to their version of this tune.

Hey you–i’m talking to you: there’s a Gee Dee reason for this war even over Christmas. If you need an update, hearken to Rusty Wellington explaining dominos to you in “No Christmas Tree in Vietnam.” Country condescension.

Derrik Roberts adds sfx and girl backups to “There Won’t Be Any Snow (Christmas in the Jungle).” It’s spoken word jazz that falls flat (despite the ‘twist’ ending).

This is a fair sampling, but should you want to follow the expert trail, subscribe to The Vietnam War Song Project. It’s not just Christmas over there.

Let’s get back to music. Johnny and Jon harmonize so soulfully you’ll believe you’re outflanked during their “Christmas in Vietnam.” This is a gospelization of doo wop that may be leading us up that hard road to hip hop. (Viet Cong! Viet Cong!)

United We Christmas Tree Stand: wars second

Most WWII songs are subtle enough to want us to revere the troops and pray for their return, without acknowledging that dang ol’ killing  machine over the Atlantic. (I wish i could find a Punch Hitler/Tojo for Christmas tune–lemme know if there is one.)

The musical ‘Annie’ gets historically metaphorical with “A New Deal for Christmas” Anthony Warlow and Lilla Crawford which branches the Depression to the 2nd ToDo. So let’s skip over this. I mean it’s linekicking fun, but heigh ho.

Still nothing consequential about the Holocaust, Axis v. Allies, or that atom bomb thing.

[Although i did stumble across young Ty Martin wise cracking about Pearl Harbor to a Christmas tune: “Ty’s Patriotic Christmas Song.” Kids today!]

So, let’s settle for a pretty piece of electric country: “My Ol’ Pal Joe” by Sean Castillo. It’s about GI Joe, which is definitely American. And it’s sweet.

United We Christmas Tree Stand: wars first

Most of the handful of carols dedicated to WWI are British about their dedication and sacrifice (and that one about the soccer game on the front lines).

But we’re being national here. So we’ll leave the patriotic history in the hands of the Royal Guardsmen with their capitalistic sequel to ‘Snoopy vs. the Red Baron’ song “Snoopy’s Christmas.” That beagle’s kinda Yank.

United We Christmas Tree Stand: revolting

Yankee Doodle is an insult, of course, but we know how to reappropriate tawdry phrases in this here land of the i-hear-what-i-want-to-hear, home of the  shut-your-immigrant-faces.

And no better starting point than K-4 in our public education. Plank Road Publishing offers several easy-to-learn musical numbers for kids for special events indoctrinating, educating, and amusing all at once.

Sitting through these free-for-alls in asbestos-ridden antique auditoria is not the same as listening to music. So let’s not worry about the sampler-sized parcels available from Teresa and Paul Jennings’s work. (These are the adverts for the musical directors at elementary schools–I am NOT going to attach the home movies of any performances.)

Suffice to say, “An All American Christmas,” and “Yankee Doodle Santa,” and “Yankee Doodle Christmas” all sound like someone has an unrequited love of music, a bureaucratic devotion to children, and a carefree sense of history.

United We Christmas Tree Stand: birthing

The Christmas songs of our founding fathers are too archaeological to consider (church hymns)–good Christmas carols don’t come around for another century after that.

But those second banana has-beens Paul Revere and the Raiders offer a light psychedelic commentary on Vietnam by singing about Revolutionary wartime conditions in “Valley Forge” (even Doonesbury saw that connection despite the jungle/snowbank dichotomy). Not much of a Yule tune, but it’s off their cool cool cool ’67 album: A Christmas Present… and Past. Good stuff, groovesters.

United We Christmas Tree Stand: before

By my Ziggy calendar it’s January… and no one gives a rat’s hat about the Yule after this date.

So let’s get weird.

This month we celebrate Americana (Norte-style). Not many novelty Christmas songs scream USA Xmas, but some significant ones do, so we’ll go slow and see where we get to (we’ll be mentioning the boys overseas quite a bit). This is NOT about the individual states (Ben Dare, Don Datt), or–if we can help it– about the regions or coasts. This is about bringing us all together as one people. like science fiction is supposed to do, like Teddy Roosevelt wanted, like YOU desire in your heart.

So let’s begin with the first peoples, the founders of our land.

Jana Sampson is our usual ambassador to traditional carols in aboriginal languages, but let’s give Laura Burnouf a shot in Cree with “Little Drummer Boy.” It’s artistically folky without the hint of a drum, deerskin or otherwise.

The band Northern Cree gets a bit more humorous and self serving with their unfortunate “NDN 12 Days of Christmas.” There isn’t much to listen to when i reference the reprehensible twelve.

Oldhands makes it all real with “Stuck in the Smoke Hole of Our Tipi.” Swing and sway with the chanting and the culture clash. (They pawn our gifts?) (Maybe they’re Pawnees? Larf!)