Is anybody else aware that first official trailer for The Hobbit has been released? It’s a Christmas miracle! To celebrate, in an extremely unrelated way, The Urchins are sharing their favourite holiday tunes! Rejoice! The Hobbit will soon be here! And Christmas…
‘Percy, the Puny Poinsettia’ by Elmo and Patsy
Before I begin to wax poetic about the joys of holiday ditties starring diminutive seasonal plants, allow me to provide a disclaimer: though Percy and his adorably pathetic ways have been warming my heart for years, it must be said that it is not technically my favourite holiday song. You see, my favourite band, Hanson (I’ll pause now in case any former fifth grade bullies need to get out some laughs), has an entire album of holiday songs, Snowed In. Because they are my favourite band, this means that every song on that album is, by default, my favourite holiday song. But since it would be far too difficult to choose just one song from Snowed In, I have decided to share with the world a song I think deserves far more attention than it receives.
When the now-divorced bluegrass/comedy duo Elmo and Patsy decided to capitalise on their Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer fame, they recorded a Christmas album by the same name. Tucked away on that album is a track called Percy, The Puny Poinsettia. The song recounts the tale of poor, droopy Percy, the last poinsettia left at the store before Christmas. If the name alone doesn’t make you swoon with cuteness (you heartless robot), enjoy the following lyric, which gives away the song’s happy ending: Now Percy the Puny Poinsettia/ Is standing beside Mr. Tree/ His leaves have never been redda/ He’s as proud as a flower can be. He’s like the Tiny Tim of the comedic fake country holiday song genre. A Merry Christmas to us all, indeed.
‘Christmas in Hollis’ by Run DMC
To be completely honest, I’ve only heard this song for the first time last week, and it is certifiably my favourite Christmas song of all time. (What that says about my general feeling toward Yuletide melodies is anyone’s guess.) But what I do know is that Run DMC can’t get any cooler in this video. They were the most popular rap group of their time, influential to this day, yet they still had the humour, good cheer, and Christmas spirit to write a song and make a video that we can all enjoy for years to come. (I do, however, apologise for that creepy elf.)
‘Happy X-Mas (War is Over)’ by John Lennon
I used to get all warm and fuzzy inside when I would drink egg-nog and listen to Christmas carols while setting up the tree. That was until I started hearing Christmas music 8 hours a day… beginning the day after Thanksgiving. Who approved the merger of the Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Labor Day season? (And what is the Labor Day season, anyway? And why do they sell Halloween costumes for it?)
Anyway, I now hate Christmas carols. Has anyone else noticed that there only seem to be 10 of them? And that every single band covers these same 10 songs over, and over, and over again. Except for one song, interestingly enough…. Happy X-Mas (War is Over) by John Lennon. I think I’ve heard this classic all of once this season.
And, because it is the holidays, here is the new trailer for The Hobbit!
