In 2006 I started a silly Christmas lyric meme where I take a song we hear countless times and point out a part of it that makes we wonder, confuses me or is worth exploring if merely for the humour of it . . . (feel free to play along and share your own silly thoughts about Christmas lyrics on your own blog)The Rules: Pick a Christmas lyric that inspires silly thought and discuss it. Then either tag people or simply invite your readers to chime in with their own silliness.
Feel free to use the "Cousin Eddie" image by copying the following code and replacing the '(' and ')' with '<' and '>' :
(a href="http://markleslie.blogspot.com/2006/12/mark-leslies-silly-christmas-lyric.html")(img src="http://static.flickr.com/136/321235351_90abf16624_m.jpg" alt="Mark Leslie's Silly Christmas Lyric meme" /)
The Song: Here Comes Santa Claus. Originally written by Gene Autry (1907-1998) and Oakley Haldeman (1909-1986) and first recorded by Gene Autry in 1947.
Lyrics In Question: "So jump in bed and cover your head 'cause Santa Claus comes tonight."
The Comment: Before I dig into the lyrics I should mention that I've long been interested in the juxtaposition between the religious and the fantastical elements of Christmas in this song. It mentions peace on earth coming to all if you just follow the light, hanging your stockings and saying your prayers, and Santa knowing that we're all God's children. While there are Christmas songs that either focus on Santa or carols that focus on the birth of Jesus and religious origins of Christmas, it's rare for a song to do both. This one interestingly does just that.
But let's get down to the silly lyrical analysis.
Given today's over-protective society and the fact that we can't trust people to be smart enough to make their own decisions and not do something stupid, I'm wondering when parent groups or some other organization seeking to make the world a better place might attempt to ban this song.
"Why?" you ask. (And before you attempt to guess, no it's not religious fanatics upset about Santa getting in the way of the real meaning of Christmas, nor non-religious fanatics pissed that God, peace and prayers are mentioned in a fun Santa song)
Well, isn't the reason obvious? I can already imagine people shouting out that his song can lead to needless injuries and mass suffication of children all over the world.
After all, jumping in bed is a frowned-upon activity that can lead to bruises and broken bones. And if you were to cover your head with your blankets and sheets you might run out of oxygen in the night while sleeping. And that can be dangerous.
Thus, this song, in the minds of certain public interest groups, is a danger to society, should be removed from rotation in radio play (yes, even the cute Elvis version of the song), and in it's place public service announcements should remind children that while it's good to be asleep when Santa comes, there is no need to "jump in bed" (which can lead to serious injury) and "cover your head" (because that, of course, can lead to suffication)
So far, the song isn't banned and can still be heard on radio stations far and wide. So enjoy it for now, because you never know when someone might take offense to the inherint dangers in the song and attempt to save us all from having to be exposed to the dangerous instructions within.
What about you? Does this song inspire silly thoughts? Perhaps it's another song. Steal this idea for your own blog or share your thoughts in a comment here.
[To read my previous Silly Christmas Lyric commentary, check out 2009 (I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus), 2008 (Silent Night), 2007 (Silver Bells) and the original 2006 (The Christmas Song)]
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