Monday, 1st December, 2008
Home for the Holidays... Sort of
Okay, so it's almost Christmas time (that's right, Christmas - not the incredibly generic and not so descriptive "holidays" that some overly sensitive people call it). Which means it's time for my annual diatribe on that famous Perry Como song Home for the Holidays. I can hear the sighs from all of my friends that have heard this before, hoping that I would forget all about it so they wouldn't have to hear it yet again. But fear not! I'm probably the only person in the entire world that is humored by this, but I'm still going to talk about it!
I'll admit I don't usually pay that much attention to lyrics. I know it's probably strange, but I tend to focus more on the instrumental aspects of music more than what is actually being said. Occasionally, after I've heard a song a hundred times, I'll catch a phrase or two and try to make sense of what it means. Incidentally, this is exactly what happened a couple of years ago. I was driving to work one morning and Home for the Holidays came up on my MP3 player. I picked up on some of the lyrics that he's singing, thinking to myself how nice and jolly the tune is. Then I came across one particular phrase:
From Atlantic to Pacific,
Gee, the traffic is terrific.
Now I'll admit that this might be the result of a generational gap. After all, I'm sure the word "terrific" held some sort of a slang meaning back when this song first came out. However, I can't help but wonder exactly what Mr. Como is saying here. Taken literally, he is simply saying that the traffic is great, which would of course mean that there's not much traffic. But to me, there's just a bit of a sarcastic tone to the phrase - I mean after all, who would ever describe traffic as "terrific"? So given a sarcastic tone, the phrase would mean the traffic is actually terrible and he's stuck in it.
I found this rather odd, so I decided to replay the song and make a conscious effort to listen to all the words. What I found gave me a whole new perspective on this holiday classic. Here's a couple of phrases to analyze:
I met a man who lives in Tennessee,
He was headin' for,
Pennsylvania, and some home made pumpkin pie.
From Pennsylvania, folks are travelin'
Down to Dixie's sunny shore,
From Atlantic to Pacific,
Gee, the traffic is terrific.
Which is immediately followed by the chorus:
Oh there's no place like home for the holidays,
Cause no matter how far away you roam,
If you want to be happy in a million ways,
For the holidays,
You can't beat home, sweet home.
Now given the title, I had assumed the song would be about spending Christmas at home and all the wonderful things there. However, the lyrics are almost all about traveling - people taking buses, trains, airplanes, driving, etc. So I have to conclude that there is a sarcastic overtone to the entire song. It's almost as if Mr. Como is poking fun at all those people who travel so that they can "go home" for the holidays, when if they really wanted to "go home" for the holidays, they wouldn't be traveling!
Anyway, whether you travel to "go home" or "go home" to avoid traveling this holiday season, Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, 31st December, 2008
LSU is On My List...
Alright, so I'll be the first to admit that LSU just outplayed us in the Peach Bowl (err, I mean, the Chicken Bowl). Their quarterback played exceptionally well, and they didn't make many mistakes. We had some stupid play calls in special teams and just looked bad all in all. I'll also admit that I'm far from unbiased here. But why in the hell would you call a fake punt leading 38-3 with 9 minutes left in the game? There's absolutely no legitimate reason to do that; it is nothing more than just a complete lack of honor and respect for the other team. Shame on you, LSU.
I used to actually like LSU, but after that, they are now on my list. You know, that list that has Florida, Miami, and teams like that that deserve no respect and that I root for anyone who plays them. As long as Les Miles is coaching the Tigers, I will wish LSU to lose every single game from now on. Unless they play Florida - then it's just the lesser of two evils.
Anyway, happy New Year all!