# Xmas carol--"Little Drummer Boy"--Love it or hate it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2002, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199 "2002-12-03T12:56:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/1 "2002-12-03T12:56:46Z")
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? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/2 "2002-12-03T13:14:05Z")
It’s pretty good. The version by the Dandy Warhols rocks too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/3 "2002-12-03T13:16:10Z")
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? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/4 "2002-12-03T13:33:52Z")
I like this song, although I prefer listening to it in Spanish, of course, 😉 and sung by Danny Rivera. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/5 "2002-12-03T13:55:26Z")
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. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/6 "2002-12-03T14:00:31Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/7 "2002-12-03T14:01:06Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![TelcontarStorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ab097/32.png) [@TelcontarStorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcontarStorm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/8 "2002-12-03T14:03:52Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/9 "2002-12-03T14:26:36Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/10 "2002-12-03T14:38:49Z")
Like **Morgainelf** , I really like the Bing Crosby/David Bowie version. But pretty much only that version. StG ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/11 "2002-12-03T14:45:52Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/12 "2002-12-03T14:54:16Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/13 "2002-12-03T15:58:30Z")
**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 f_cking 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? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/14 "2002-12-03T16:39:46Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/15 "2002-12-03T16:44:41Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/16 "2002-12-03T17:09:36Z")
First off: > [@](#): > > Hama and I just had a bonding moment. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Eh hem. Second: > [@](#): > > You just know the kid’s a doe-eyed Dondi type who’s getting by on being pathetic, rather than any innate talent. 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. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/17 "2002-12-03T17:21:32Z")
Another **hate it** here. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/18 "2002-12-03T17:33:06Z")
Another **love it**. Can’t quite explain why, but the simple harmonies & chord progressions get to me. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/19 "2002-12-03T17:47:17Z")
Love it, hate it – you bastards have got it stuck in my head now. Ba rum pa pum aaaaugh! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199/20 "2002-12-03T18:46:17Z")
I like the version that [Emmylou Harris](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=SEARCH&sql=Aqztxlfhegcqo) does. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xmas-carol-little-drummer-boy-love-it-or-hate-it/140199.md?page=2)