It’s always been a favorite of mine. Some children can be amazingly unselfish, & somehow the kid in the carol says that to me.
Your opinions? 
It’s pretty good. The version by the Dandy Warhols rocks too. 
I like it, if it is done the traditional slow way… it’s kinda catchy!
This makes me wonder, though… where does this song come from? I can’t seem to recall any Biblical story right off the top of my head about a little drummer boy…
Anyone? 
I like this song, although I prefer listening to it in Spanish, of course, 
and sung by Danny Rivera.
Agh, I HATE IT! Hate it hate it hate it. I don’t know why. I’ve always loathes and despised this carol. This one and “Jolly Old St. Nicholas.” As soon as I hear “COOOOOOOOOOOOOOME THEY TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD ME” I can feel my eardrums threaten to rupture.
So. Uhm. There’s my vote.
I actually look forward to hearing Christmas carols, but not this one. Something about it just irks me. I know most people who just had a baby in a barn would appreciate a child playing a drum solo to calm their nerves, but not me. I guess I’m just weird.
Love, love, love it. I really like the hokey Bing Crosby/David Bowie version too.
As for origin, it was written in 1958 in the US by K. Davis, H. Onorati, and H. Simone.
I’m with Hama on this one.
I’ve hated the damn sone ever since my 3rd grade teacher forced us to sing it for an Xmas show. But I feel the same way about “Yankee Doodle” for the same reason.
This tune is worn out. I’ve always liked my Xmas tunes non-traditional. (except of course, Have yourself a merry little Xmas) so, I’d probly dislike any tune about the holiday anyone brings up.
Ba rum pum bum pum youself into a holiday frenzy. Enjoy
I’m more bored by it, rather than feeling an active dislike. Fifty-bajillion iterations of Brum-pum-pum-pum do not put me in a cheerful holiday mood; they just make me wonder if this song is ever going to end.
Like Morgainelf, I really like the Bing Crosby/David Bowie version. But pretty much only that version.
StG
I love this song, and I was astonished when I realized that many people rank it up there with the worst holiday songs ever. I like the traditional version, and also the Bing/Bowie one (although that also appeals to my sense of the surreal).
I remember the Christmas special fondly, and when I was a kid I would look forward to it every year, with that special mix of dread and anticipation. It’s so sad (with the little sheep), although it comes out all right in the end. I was one of those kids who enjoyed, in a perverse way, that kind of emotional torture.
Much like “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, the second I recognize that this song is being played I do whatever possible to escape the vengeful wrath it is trying to thrust upon me.
Hama and I just had a bonding moment.
I love most Christmas Carols, but I hate that one. I abhor that carol. I want to take th’ kid, kill him, skin him, and make a drum from his hide just to make him SHUT UP!
IMO the carol stinks. You just know the kid’s a doe-eyed Dondi type who’s getting by on being pathetic, rather than any innate talent. In addition, he’s a rotten drummer (he only knows one pah-rum-pah-pum-pum rhythm), he’s banging on a drum in front of a newborn baby (I figure that after 20 (?) hours of labor, Mary’d rather get some rest than hear the incessant “Pah-rum-pah-pum-pum”) and how crappy of a drummer must he be if he needed to the ox and lamb to keep time to a fcking drumbeat*??? The drummer keeps time for the band. Or a competent drummer does.
I think the last verse should go something like this:
*
“Hey! Stop that racket kid”
Pah rum pum pum pum
Mary and Joseph said
Pah rum pum pum pum
“We wanna get some sleep!”
Pah rum pum pum
He woke and looked at me
Pah rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
“You really suck” He said
Pah rum pum pum pum
“You and your drum”
“You and your drum”
“You and your drum”
“You and your drum”
“You and your drum”
“You and your drum”
“You and your drum”
*
Pah-rum-pah-pum-pum this, you punk. :: makes an obscene gesture in the Drummer Boy’s direction ::
Fenris, who hate that song. Could you tell?
I love this song.
I used to have the Ezra Jack Keats book of the song, and I loved that too. (great artwork, I recommend it to everyone) And yes, there is something bizarre about having a woman just out labor listen to a drum solo by a little kid - but still, he gave everything he had.
Great carol.
I hate it. Unlike Fenris, I haven’t looked deeply into the reasons why. It just gets on my nerves, agitates my nerves and irritates my nerves.
Give me Christmas With Mario Lanza any day. Well, any day in December.
First off:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
Eh hem.
Second:
That’s such a big chunk of it. I picture this “little drummer boy” to be one of those little Precious Moments figurines, looking up all pathetic and pitiful and weepy-eyed. I hate Precious Moments figurines. They all look like they’re thinking, “No, Daddy - not the belt!!!” shudder
Whoa, maybe that’s a rant.
Another hate it here.
Another love it. Can’t quite explain why, but the simple harmonies & chord progressions get to me.
Love it, hate it – you bastards have got it stuck in my head now.
Ba rum pa pum aaaaugh!
Daniel
I like the version that Emmylou Harris does.