Oh Christmas Tree

 

I was giving the boys a bath last night and like I often do, I sit in the bathroom after I scrub the dirt, mud, paint, asphalt, tar, oil, magic marker, glue, grease, sand, sap and food off of them. Since they are 3 and 20 months, I can’t leave them alone to play in the tub, so I grab a book or magazine and sit and talk to them and make sure at least half the water stays in the tub.

So last night I decided to grab my harmonica and play for a while, to sort of offer free music with their bath. I’ve had it for years and the only thing I can play well is the standard Southern confederate song that sounds perfect on a harmonica, Dixie Land. You know the song…

“O I wish I was in land of cotton where old times there are not forgotten LOOK AWAY…LOOK AWAY…LOOK AWAY…Dixie land”.

It’s a great song and reminds me of the Clint Eastwood movie The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Anyway, I decided to branch out...

Anyway, I decided to branch out from a good ol’ southern tune and tried different Christmas songs. Since I recently heard a funny NPR skit on Oh Christmas Tree, I gave that a shot. It didn’t go well. Playing a harmonica with any skill is harder than it looks. Or maybe I’m just an idiot. More likely I’m an idiot. Either way it sounded more like random notes than Oh Christmas Tree.

A little while later I was getting the baby dressed and sometimes to get him to stop squirming like a feral cat that is in the grip of a farmer who caught it in his barn, I sing. I sing, he looks at me funny, I sing some more, he keeps looking at me wondering if that awful sound is really coming from that big guy who walks around the house and while he is enchanted, I put his diaper and pajamas on.

Since the Christmas Tree song was in my head, I sang that. Having recently found out that it is a German Christmas carol, and me being from German decent, it was a match made in Germany. But all I knew were the following lyrics…

“Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, thy leaves are so unchanging.”

So I sang that over and over until even I got sick of it. So I improvised…

“Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, please put many presents, under for me;
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, wait until I get your diaper on, before you pee;
This stupid tree, cost a lot, for something that, in a month will rot;
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, my dog used to eat the leaves.”

Then I remembered there is a version with oh Tannenbaum and I thought how strange, a Jewish version of a song about a Christmas tree. But a quick search on Google revealed that Tannenbaum is German for Christmas Tree, with a literal translation of Fir Tree.

And that got me thinking

“Dave, you should know the real words to the entire song. It’s kind of a nice song to sing. Look it up”.

Which I did, again on the web.

First, there are some strange lyrics to this song. One I found had

“O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
How are thy leaves so verdant!”

What the hell does ‘verdant’ mean?

Lush, apparently.

Then I found

“Oh Christmas tree, oh christmas tree,
of all the trees most lovely”

So yeah, I guess the Christmas tree is most lovely out of all the Douglas Firs out there. I guess. Not sure. Maybe not. The trees I get at either Home Depot or this corner lot in Randolph are pretty bad. Not exactly Charlie Brown bad, but my neighbor has a nice one in his backyard. Maybe I’ll cut that down. But it IS the most lovely tree in my living room.

Then I came across.

“Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree. Your branches green delight us”

What delights me, and this is just me, are the presents UNDER the tree, not the green. And the smell, I like the smell of a real tree.

“O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, How steadfast are your branches!”

I’m starting to get discourage. I was looking for “thy leaves are so unchanging”. Steadfast makes me think of a race horse, or an ancient warrior. Or a prince in a fairy tale.

I finally found the lyrics I was used to.

“O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy leaves are so unchanging.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy leaves are so unchanging.
Not only green when summer's here
But also when 'tis cold and drear.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy leaves are so unchanging.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
You fill all hearts with gaiety.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
You fill all hearts with gaiety.
On Christmas Day, you stand so tall,
Affording joy to one and all.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
You fill all hearts with gaiety.”

Ok, couple of things. First, I like it, especially the simplicity of it. Second verse same as the first, that whole thing.

Next, I hate to admit this but I had to look up Gaiety in an online dictionary. Actually, I used function-F7 in Word to get similar words. Jollity, jauntiness, joviality, fun and cheerfulness are all synonymous. After finding the definition, I am full of gaiety.

Finally, I was surprised it basically ended on Christmas day, standing tall and affording joy. My version would end with the tree drying up because I keep forgetting to put water in the base, and vacuuming pine needles every 6 hours, and trying to get that huge plastic bag over the thing on New Year’s Day so I can get it out of the house without leaving millions, and I mean MILLIONS, of pine needles in the path.

Either way, I am not going to memorize these lyrics because making stuff up on the fly is more fun. And while my perceptive 5 year old will tell me I am making stuff up, I doubt my 20 month old cares either way. He’s just busy planning his escape from the changing table while I’m concentrating on lyrics that rhyme.

Posted by David_Dobrindt on November 30, 2007 at 02:33 PM in Random | Permalink

Anyway, I decided to branch out from a good ol’ southern tune and tried different Christmas songs. Since I recently heard a funny NPR skit on Oh Christmas Tree, I gave that a shot. It didn’t go well. Playing a harmonica with any skill is harder than it looks. Or maybe I’m just an idiot. More likely I’m an idiot. Either way it sounded more like random notes than Oh Christmas Tree.

A little while later I was getting the baby dressed and sometimes to get him to stop squirming like a feral cat that is in the grip of a farmer who caught it in his barn, I sing. I sing, he looks at me funny, I sing some more, he keeps looking at me wondering if that awful sound is really coming from that big guy who walks around the house and while he is enchanted, I put his diaper and pajamas on.

Since the Christmas Tree song was in my head, I sang that. Having recently found out that it is a German Christmas carol, and me being from German decent, it was a match made in Germany. But all I knew were the following lyrics…

“Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, thy leaves are so unchanging.”

So I sang that over and over until even I got sick of it. So I improvised…

“Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, please put many presents, under for me;
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, wait until I get your diaper on, before you pee;
This stupid tree, cost a lot, for something that, in a month will rot;
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, my dog used to eat the leaves.”

Then I remembered there is a version with oh Tannenbaum and I thought how strange, a Jewish version of a song about a Christmas tree. But a quick search on Google revealed that Tannenbaum is German for Christmas Tree, with a literal translation of Fir Tree.

And that got me thinking

“Dave, you should know the real words to the entire song. It’s kind of a nice song to sing. Look it up”.

Which I did, again on the web.

First, there are some strange lyrics to this song. One I found had

“O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
How are thy leaves so verdant!”

What the hell does ‘verdant’ mean?

Lush, apparently.

Then I found

“Oh Christmas tree, oh christmas tree,
of all the trees most lovely”

So yeah, I guess the Christmas tree is most lovely out of all the Douglas Firs out there. I guess. Not sure. Maybe not. The trees I get at either Home Depot or this corner lot in Randolph are pretty bad. Not exactly Charlie Brown bad, but my neighbor has a nice one in his backyard. Maybe I’ll cut that down. But it IS the most lovely tree in my living room.

Then I came across.

“Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree. Your branches green delight us”

What delights me, and this is just me, are the presents UNDER the tree, not the green. And the smell, I like the smell of a real tree.

“O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, How steadfast are your branches!”

I’m starting to get discourage. I was looking for “thy leaves are so unchanging”. Steadfast makes me think of a race horse, or an ancient warrior. Or a prince in a fairy tale.

I finally found the lyrics I was used to.

“O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy leaves are so unchanging.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy leaves are so unchanging.
Not only green when summer's here
But also when 'tis cold and drear.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy leaves are so unchanging.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
You fill all hearts with gaiety.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
You fill all hearts with gaiety.
On Christmas Day, you stand so tall,
Affording joy to one and all.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
You fill all hearts with gaiety.”

Ok, couple of things. First, I like it, especially the simplicity of it. Second verse same as the first, that whole thing.

Next, I hate to admit this but I had to look up Gaiety in an online dictionary. Actually, I used function-F7 in Word to get similar words. Jollity, jauntiness, joviality, fun and cheerfulness are all synonymous. After finding the definition, I am full of gaiety.

Finally, I was surprised it basically ended on Christmas day, standing tall and affording joy. My version would end with the tree drying up because I keep forgetting to put water in the base, and vacuuming pine needles every 6 hours, and trying to get that huge plastic bag over the thing on New Year’s Day so I can get it out of the house without leaving millions, and I mean MILLIONS, of pine needles in the path.

Either way, I am not going to memorize these lyrics because making stuff up on the fly is more fun. And while my perceptive 5 year old will tell me I am making stuff up, I doubt my 20 month old cares either way. He’s just busy planning his escape from the changing table while I’m concentrating on lyrics that rhyme.