Merry Christmas everyone!
Every week I try to learn something new about some
aspect of songwriting, something to mention on air when I present the songs I play.
Last Thursday night on Lyrical Workers,
I played primarily Christmas songs, and learned an interesting fact about the much-covered
song Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. The
character of Rudolph was originally created in 1939, as a promotional piece for
the publishing company, Montgomery Ward, by a copywriter named Robert May.
Later, May’s brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, created a song around the character,
and ten years after it’s original creation, Rudolph
The Red Nosed Reindeer became a big hit when Gene Autry recorded the song. I find it interesting that Jews wrote three of the most iconic Christmas songs of all times: Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (Marks), White Christmas (Berlin), and The Christmas Song (Torme)
This is the last report I will write in 2017. As
always, it seems like only yesterday that I was changing the date on the below
copyright to 2017. In fact, this particular holiday season has flown by particularly
fast. Last night, as has been my tradition for almost every Christmas Eve in my
recall-able past, I watched Frank Capra’s It’s
A Wonderful Life. I’m such a huge fan of the movie that my sister bought me
a book about the making of it. Every year, I notice something new, some little
continuity error or prop that I didn’t see the year before. There are so many
scenes that evoke emotion in me, and I cry like a baby every time I see that
movie. I recall reading that H.B. Warner, the actor who played Mr. Gower in the
movie, actually drew blood when he slapped the young George Bailey (12-year-old
Bob Anderson) in the famous drugstore scene. I also read that Warner, an
accomplished method actor, was somewhat inebriated during the famous scene,
perhaps so he could better get into character. Whatever his motivation, his
performance in that scene was shockingly believable, and in fact so were the
performances of everyone in the cast. I can’t believe the movie was a flop when
it was released in 1946. It wasn’t until 25 or 30 years later that it became
the cult classic it has remained since.
A lot has been made about the subtext It’s A Wonderful Life, and many theories
have emerged. Was it socialist propaganda or merely a movie about the love
conquering all? Idealist that I am, I prefer to believe the latter. This morning,
Shauna read me a letter Albert Einstein apparently wrote to his daughter, the
contents of which were only revealed long after Einstein’s death. In it, Einstein
declares that the most powerful force in the world is love. This is a strange thing to
read, coming from the person responsible for opening the door to atomic energy. At a time when universal love seems to be on the wane, when science seems
to be at odds with humanity, when narcissistic sociopaths spout
ignorance and hatred, and the world seems to have been upended; it is a somewhat
comforting notion that one of the world’s greatest geniuses felt that love can
conquer all. I want to embrace this idealistic notion as well. In the face of
all evidence that the world is swirling down the toilet drain like yesterday’s half-digested
Big Mac, I still see the good side of mankind. I’m as cynical as the next man,
but I am a dreamer as well. We don’t see it on the news, but I believe love begets
love (and the opposite is also true). In my little community, we have the
plumber, who regularly does pro bono repairs in elders’ homes, or the Managing
Director of the community radio station who selflessly organizes a food drive
with other local businesses, to provide 1000 turkey dinners to local food
banks, or the emergency first responders who save lives on Christmas while the rest
of us make merry. I don’t think you can legislate hatred or ignorance out of
existence, but I do believe goodwill is contagious. I try to remember every good
thing that has been done for me, and I try to focus on true leadership. Here’s
hoping 2018 is the year we begin to focus on the love we know is out there.
Ho Friggin
Ho, and don’t be one!
- Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c
2017 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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