(no subject)

[leia131]

I'll hopefully be home in my parents living room when you all read this, but here 's a post I've been meaning to do for a while. (No, it's not The Hobbit: The Desolation of Sherlock Holmes review I said I was working on, that one still coming.) I want to talk about Christmas music!

Obviously, all this month I've been quoting and sharing videos of versions of Christmas songs. Hopefully you've all been enjoying that, because we've still got at least another week of it (this Christmas train keeps rolling until January). ANYWAY. While listening to these songs, and seeing how many of them becofoz guessed correctly, and reading Christmas memes filled out by people not in the USA, I got to thinking: Do people not in the United States have different carols? (Obviously the answer must be yes, and yet they are also familiar with the ones I consider traditional.)

So, Friends-List, talk to me about Christmas carols! Do people in the Southern Hemisphere wonder why we're so into Dreaming of a White Christmas when that's never going to happen? Do people in Africa hear that one line in Feed the World ('there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime') and think, "of course there won't, WE LIVE ON THE EQUATOR"? Does everyone wonder what a chestnut is, and why you would roast one?

Are there any carols that are particularly meaningful to you, or local to your region? I don't think I know of any Vermont carols, but I suppose there might be.



ETA: This wasn't supposed to post until the 22nd; I've no idea why it posted two days early. I had more to add to it, but that ship has sailed now. I look forward to reading your comments!

Comments

[becofoz]

I think we have some Aussie ones but you're just as likely to find traditional songs just re-worded to suit us, like this one...

Aussie Jingle Bells (I still have not worked out to embed in a comment).

Or this...Six White Boomers (Unfortunately tainted now by the fact that Rolf Harris is on trial in the UK for child abuse allegations...)

I'm not sure of the correct title of this. Some say Carol of the Birds but I think that's a different carol I'm sure. Anyway - Carol of the Birds (Orana). The singer here is John Williamson, who is well known for real Aussie country tunes. He's singing at Carols by Candlelight, a Melbourne tradition on Christmas Eve, held at an iconic outdoor venue in Melbourne.

(Side note: As I was looking up videos for this I clicked on John Williamson singing True Blue at Steve Irwin's memorial. I had never seen that before and it had me in tears!!!)

I vaguely remember this one growing up - The Three Drovers.

I'm sure there are more but these are the ones that come to mind. I know there is an Aussie version of The Twelve Days of Christmas but thought I would spare you that.

We did grow up with the more traditional songs though (Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, O Come All Ye Faithful etc.). I don't think they're unique to the USA.

/long comment.

[bizarrevictoria.livejournal.com]

I don't know about non-Anglicized carols, but I do know that some carols in the UK have all the same lyrics as they do in the States, but totally different tunes. Really threw BF off when we went caroling last year.

[domluver.livejournal.com]

Since I'm from the North Christmas Carols talking about White Christmas and stuff makes me urn for it more than anything. A lot of people here wish for snow on Christmas but it doesn't happen. We ALMOST got it last year. But with this year being 80 degrees the week up to Christmas yeah right.

I'm sure there are some Gullah Christmas Songs or even Southern Ones but they aren't popular to hear them all that often.

[leia131.livejournal.com]

This is an excellent comment! I hadn't figured that many of the more religious ones were unique to the USA, more like ones that mention specific states, lol.

I'm totally going to Google the Aussie 12 Days, I love that song and all the parody versions.

[leia131.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that's weird! Are there any videos/clips of that kind of thing?

[leia131.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm home in VT now and there's... almost snow. Hopefully we'll get some more before Christmas!

[becofoz]

Did you Google it?