“Presents on the tree”? Aren’t the presents supposed to be under thre tree?
That’s one I still question. Especially since the meter calls for two syllables there, anyway, so you’re forced to sing “Presents ooo-oon the tree”.
“He’ll say: Are you married?
We’ll say: No man
But you can do the job
When you’re in town”
I didn’t know what a Parson was, so I just assumed it was a man’s name. And thus I had no idea what job they were saying he could do when he was in town, other than it had something to do with them not being married. So I took it to mean something like “You can pretend to be my husband when you’re in town, and do the sorts of jobs husbands do.”
In French class we had to learn a Christmas (Noel) song which ended in “et bonne annee grand mere”…and happy new year Grandmother. Grandma did not appear previously in le chanson so we wondered where she came from.
Then the was the song. “Sur le pont d’Avignon, on y danse on y danse” where teacher explained was about dancing on a famous bridge in the city of Avignon. The bridge is only half standing so…these people go dancing on a bridge that is half ruined…do they fall into the river?
I’ve been on that bridge, and yes, there were actually people dancing on it (and not falling off). There’s a gift shop there, mostly about the song, very little about the bridge itself.
Isn’t that just the last line of “Jingle Bells” in French? What does Granny have to do with Christmas?
At least the song says the paws go ‘click, click, click’.
“When the snowman brings the snow…”
Did Wizzard think there’s a mythical character called “The Snowman” who’s known for “bringing snow”? (Does he sprinkle it on children’s eyes?)
This could be a reference to the famous Avignon Ergot incident.
There have been instances of ergot poisoning driving people mad since ancient times, and it was always blamed on the supernatural. It may have been the origin for the Death-of-the-Firstborn plague in Egypt.
In Poldark, ergot was the drug Elizabeth took to induce labor when George suspected she’d been with Ross.
Funny thing about that song, people didn’t dance on the bridge, they danced under it.