Monday, December 25, 2017

The Oppenheimer Report 12/25/17


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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