Stuff I'm Listening to - The Christmas Advent Edition - December 9th

Artist: Big Bird and the Swedish Chef

Title: The Christmas Song

Lyrics:

And so, I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two
Although it's been said, many times, many ways
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to you

Why?: As you may have already heard, Caroll Spinney passed away yesterday. He was the voice and puppeteer behind the giant canary on Sesame Street. It was necessary for me to make note of this. Sesame Street and the Muppets occupied a huge chunk of my childhood so it was a sad moment yesterday when I heard the news. 

I loved Big Bird because he was the voice for the children. He was a giant child that everyone in the community took care of and taught. He was innocent and caring. I had stopped watching Sesame Street when Mr. Hooper passed away and when they addressed the issue of Mr. Snuffleupagus being real versus imaginary. But what I loved about those points of the show was the fact that they didn't shy away from the difficult topics (Mr. Hooper's passing) and they were willing to admit they might have gotten something wrong and addressed it (Mr. Snuffleupagus finally sticking around long enough for the adults to meet him because parents were getting concerned that Big Bird was not being believed when it was clear to the audience of small children that Snuffy was real). 

As for this song, it's your typical cheesy holiday sentiments. I have no real attachment to it. I'm not saying it's a bad song by any means. All Christmas carols much be composed of at least 33% cheesy holiday sentiments or it doesn't quality as a carol, and must be noted on the packaging. I'm sure it's law somewhere. The same law that says it's champagne versus sparking wine.

Nat King Cole does a wonderful rendition of this song. The remake where his daughter Natalie was able to have a 'duet' with her father, also beautiful but then, sad all at once when you really start to think about it (don't... this post is already sad enough). But this Muppets clip is sentimental, funny and meaningful all at once. True to Big Bird's innocent nature, he's clueless on why the Swedish Chef wanted to speak with him. His only thought of this person, he'd apparently only met that day, was he was so far from home and gifted him some chocolate to brighten his Christmas. If that's not just perfect for what Christmas, Sesame Street and Big Bird is all about, I don't know what is.