# Your favourite Christmas Carol **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 1999, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788 "1999-12-01T23:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 1999, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/41 "1999-12-04T06:29:00Z")
I’m an '80s brat, so it isn’t really Christmas until I’ve heard “Christmas Wrapping” (by the Waitresses, I think). As to Christmas albums, let me mention my favorite, THE BELLS OF DUBLIN by The Chieftains with a whole bunch of interesting guests from Elvis Costello to Ricki Lee Jones. Wonderful, gorgeous music: my wife and I trim our tree to it every year. And I’ll second (or seventy-fifth) everyone else on “Carol of the Bells,” which is spooky and haunting in a glorious way. I also used to know all the words to “Stille Nacht” (pardon my spelling) in the original German. German gets called an ugly language a lot, but I greatly prefer it to “Silent Night” (maybe because of the simplicity of the sentiment). * * * …but when you get blue, and you’ve lost all your dreams, there’s nothing like a campfire and a can of beans! ---
**Author:** ![Falcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/49beb7/32.png) [@Falcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falcon)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/42 "1999-12-03T19:34:00Z")
aHAH! Found the lyrics to Boston Charlie…from “More of the Straight Dope” > [@](#): > > Deck us all with Boston Charlie, > Walla Walla, Wash., an’ Kalamazoo! > Nora’s freezin’ on the trolley, > Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo! > > Don’t we know archaic barrel > Lullaby Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou? > Trolley Molly don’t love Harold, > Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo! > > Bark us all bow-wows of folly, > Polly wolly cracker ‘n’ too-da-loo! > Donkey Bonny brays a carol, > Antelope Cantaloupe, 'lope with you! > > Hunky Dory’s pop is lolly gaggin’ on the wagon, > Willy, folly go through! > Chollie’s collie barks at Barrow, > Harum scarum five alarm bung-a-loo! > > Dunk us all in bowls of barley, > Hinky dinky dink an’ polly voo! > Chilly Filly’s name is Chollie, > Chollie Filly’s jolly chilly view halloo! > > Bark us all bow-wows of folly, > Double-bubble, toyland trouble! Woof, woof, woof! > Tizzy seas on melon collie! > Dibble-dabble, scribble-scrabble! Goof, goof, goof! * * * “Men are from Earth, women are from Earth. Deal with it.” - George Carlin ---
**Author:** ![Cactus\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Cactus\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cactus_Rose)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 1999, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/43 "1999-12-04T04:29:00Z")
Hey, Sue - **Here Is Christmas** is the Heart song you’re looking for! * * * - A rose by any other name would still have thorns - ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 1999, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/44 "1999-12-04T04:49:00Z")
I love the new version of “Carol of the Bells”, which I believe is called “Christmas Eve, Sarajevo” Also, “All I want for Christmas is you”. The only version I’ve heard is by a local group. Finally, this isn’t a Christmas song, but rather a Hannukah song - “Light One Candle” by Peter, Paul & Mary. Happy Hannukah, y’all! ---
**Author:** ![Yankee\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7ea924/32.png) [@Yankee\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankee_Blue)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 1999, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/45 "1999-12-04T17:12:00Z")
PCW - Is the Home Alone song you’re thinking of ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’? It’s a kind of weepy-sweet WWII era song: “I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams…” * * * The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. –Einstein ---
**Author:** ![CanadianSue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@CanadianSue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanadianSue)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 1999, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/46 "1999-12-04T17:28:00Z")
I love O Holy Night. When I used to sing, this was my favourite solo to do. I honestly cant think of any Christmas song/hymn that I dont like. * * * I am me… accept it or not. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 1999, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/47 "1999-12-04T17:30:00Z")
_Winter Wonderland_ by The Roches. _Christmas Wrapping_ by The Waitreses. _Christmas Is Coming_ by John Denver w. the Muppets. _Christmas At Ground Zero_ by Weird Al. ---
**Author:** ![AzRaek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/azraek/32/16739_2.png) [@AzRaek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AzRaek)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 1999, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/48 "1999-12-04T17:34:00Z")
Sting’s version of Gabriel’s Message from the first A Very Special Christmas cd. Mannheim Steamroller’s Deck the Halls. Bob & Doug Mackenzie’s 12 Days of Christmas (and a beer…in a tree!) Away in a Manger. The Halleluja Chorus. * * * John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. That’s my name too. Wait, no it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Dorothy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c77e96/32.png) [@Dorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorothy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/49 "1999-12-05T06:09:00Z")
“Il e ne” is very sweet, but I’ll plump for two off-beat choices: 1. An English carol, “Jesus Christ, The Apple Tree” which is fairly modern and hooks into the Medieval Christian conceit that the cross upon which Christ was crucified was made from the wood of the free from which Adam and Eve ate the apple in the Garden of Eden. 2. “For Unto Us” from **Messiah** : \*For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulders.\ And his name shall be call-ed Wonderful! Counselor! The Might God! The Everlasting Father! The Prince of Peace! Sort of sums it all up, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 1999, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/50 "1999-12-04T22:30:00Z")
Actually, Cecil got it wrong about “Deck us all with Boston Charlie,” though it’s the fault of his source. The first two verses are the original song (as reported in “Ten Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Years with Pogo”). ## “Bark us all, etc.” was a variant verse by Beauregard, and was repudiated by the other characters. The “Tickle salty boss anchovy” version was also repudiated. “East is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does.” – Marx Read “Sundials” in the new issue of Aboriginal Science Fiction. [www.sff.net/people/rothman](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman) ---
**Author:** ![CatRimbaud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@CatRimbaud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatRimbaud)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 1999, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/51 "1999-12-04T23:48:00Z")
My favourite is a simple one that a friend of mine did. It is “Noel” by D.C. Blue. It uses the tune of the original and goes a little something like this: “No L, No L, my name has No L. Or maybe it does and I just can not spell.” Hey, what can I say. I’m easily amused. * * * I am not insane. I am just an average girl who enjoys the lost art of torturing small animals by duct-taping them to railroad tracks. ---
**Author:** ![\_LiZa\_JaNe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/bbce88/32.png) [@\_LiZa\_JaNe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_LiZa_JaNe)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/52 "1999-12-05T03:20:00Z")
mine would be “two-step 'round the Christmas tree” I don’t know who sings it…but it always lifts my spirits whenever I hear it -'LiZa Jane ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/53 "1999-12-05T03:46:00Z")
I’m very glad to know that there are other Mannheim Steamroller fans here! Most of the other people I know have never heard of them. A friend of mine works at a concert venue here, and worked last year’s Mannheim Steamroller Christmas show. He gave me the T-shirt. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/54 "1999-12-05T04:03:00Z")
One other: _Angels We Have Heard On High_. I sing it in the morning and it drives my sister nuts. _sings_ _Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria in excelsis Deo._ * * * Your Official Cat Goddess since 10/20/99. “I get along well with everybody.” --I.M.F. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/55 "1999-12-05T17:10:00Z")
Goofy Christmas Carol: “Good King Sauerkraut, look out! On your feets uneven!” (Walt Kelly) “Grandma got run over by a reindeer” Pagan Christmas Carol: “Deck the Halls” Classical Christmas Carol: “Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming” One I cant remember the exact title to, but it starts “Maria wandered through _something-or-other_, Kyrie Eleison” - anyone wanna help me out with this? “Gesu Bambino” Secular Christmas Carol: “Winter Wonderland” by Harry Connick, Jr. from the “When Harry Met Sally…” soundtrack All-Time top Favorite Christmas Carol: “The Little Drummer Boy” - reduces me to tears no matter who’s singing it * * * Lyxdesics of the lowrd untie! ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/56 "1999-12-05T17:17:00Z")
Silver bells, Silver bells, It’s Christmastime in the city. And I really like, “Do You Hear What I Hear,” too. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/57 "1999-12-05T21:42:00Z")
Only on **this** board could we get the clarification between the canonical Pogo parody and the Beauregard parody-parody! 😃 For me the carol proper would have to be “O Little Town of Bethlehem” – nothing else captures both the poignancy and the full meaning of the Christmas story like it does. For a “modern” Christmas song, and for quite similar reasons, it would be “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/58 "1999-12-05T23:31:00Z")
I have “Deck the halls with Boston Charlie” on CD :D. On “A Jazz Christmas,” a collection of jazz christmas songs from CBS recors. It’s performed by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. They start with the song, go into some instrumental jazz for most of the track, then reprise the words again at the end. It was an odd feeling, because I didn’t know this was on there until somehow the words percolated into my brain, and I realized what they were singing. Completely unexpected :). * * * _It is too clear, and so it is hard to see._ ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/59 "1999-12-06T06:40:00Z")
Hark the Herald Angels Sing, from the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. Loo loo loo loo loo loo loo loo… * * * Remember, I’m pulling for you; we’re all in this together. —Red Green ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788/60 "1999-12-06T07:03:00Z")
I have loved “Jeanette Isabella” since high school when it was a choir selection for the winter concert. I think that is the only place I have heard it sung, though I have heard instrumental versions of it in canned mall music. I was going to just list that, and “What Child is This?”, but then Kat mentioned “Angels We Have Heard on High” which is one of my favorites to sing, too. Makes me want to go out Christmas caroling. Do people still do that? Meg [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-christmas-carol/11788.md?page=4)