December 21, 2010 by Alex Flippin
I decided on this BLOG topic as a courtesy to all the people who have had to hear my rant about the song “Happy Holiday” sung by the great Andy Williams.
Now I want to be clear that I have nothing against Andy Williams per se. BUT I have countless problems with the song “Happy Holiday.” Number one being, why not “Happy HolidayS?” That bugged me from the start, but the song goes on and on about Santa, so I’ve let that go. The song is obviously about Christmas and therefore I can let the singularity of the holiday greeting go.
If you’re unfamiliar with this song, here’s a small sampling of the lyrics (that I hate.)
It’s the holiday season
The holiday season
With the whoop-de-do and dickory dock
And don’t forget to hang up your sock
‘Cause just exactly at 12 o’clock
He’ll be coming down the chimney
He’ll be coming down the chimney, down
So, according to this song, Santa will be coming down the chimney down. What’s a “chimney down?” I don’t understand. Then we have the stellar line, “With a whoop-de-do and dickory dock?” Again, I don’t understand. Is a dickory dock some Christmas tradition that has somehow escaped my attention all these years? Not to mention whoop-de-do. Whoop-de-do implies, to me, the opposite of holiday excitement.
Someone -”Yay it’s Christmas morning Alex!!”
Alex – “Whoop-de-do.”
Someone – “You’re kind of a jerk, you know that?”
Andy Williams, or the song writer who wrote this gem, also wants to remind us to hang up our “socks.” Not our stockings. Our socks. Somehow “the socks were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St. Nicolas soon would be there” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Steeee-rike three! The reason we need to remember to hang up our socks, apparently…because “just exactly at 12 o’clock” Santa will be coming down the chimney down. What? When did this become a thing? It’s already hard enough to explain how the big guy can get to every house in one night to deliver his goodies, but how are we supposed to explain how he comes down every chimney down at exactly midnight? Not to mention having to explain what a chimney down is.
I do love traditional Christmas songs. Thanks to a recent post on my buddy’s Facebook wall, I don’t have to vent about crappy new versions of old Christmas songs. Those are often the subject of much distain on my part. Not all, but many. “Happy Holiday” just really gets my goat. Especially since it’s one of the songs that gets stuck in my head the most.
All that said, Merry Christmas to all and happy holidayS! Next year we’ll tackle Dean Martin’s classic version of “Rudy the Red Nosed Reindeer.”
Really Dean? Rudy?
Now I want to be clear that I have nothing against Andy Williams per se. BUT I have countless problems with the song “Happy Holiday.” Number one being, why not “Happy HolidayS?” That bugged me from the start, but the song goes on and on about Santa, so I’ve let that go. The song is obviously about Christmas and therefore I can let the singularity of the holiday greeting go.If you’re unfamiliar with this song, here’s a small sampling of the lyrics (that I hate.)
It’s the holiday season
The holiday season
With the whoop-de-do and dickory dock
And don’t forget to hang up your sock
‘Cause just exactly at 12 o’clock
He’ll be coming down the chimney
He’ll be coming down the chimney, down
So, according to this song, Santa will be coming down the chimney down. What’s a “chimney down?” I don’t understand. Then we have the stellar line, “With a whoop-de-do and dickory dock?” Again, I don’t understand. Is a dickory dock some Christmas tradition that has somehow escaped my attention all these years? Not to mention whoop-de-do. Whoop-de-do implies, to me, the opposite of holiday excitement.
Someone -”Yay it’s Christmas morning Alex!!”
Alex – “Whoop-de-do.”
Someone – “You’re kind of a jerk, you know that?”
Andy Williams, or the song writer who wrote this gem, also wants to remind us to hang up our “socks.” Not our stockings. Our socks. Somehow “the socks were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St. Nicolas soon would be there” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Steeee-rike three! The reason we need to remember to hang up our socks, apparently…because “just exactly at 12 o’clock” Santa will be coming down the chimney down. What? When did this become a thing? It’s already hard enough to explain how the big guy can get to every house in one night to deliver his goodies, but how are we supposed to explain how he comes down every chimney down at exactly midnight? Not to mention having to explain what a chimney down is.
I do love traditional Christmas songs. Thanks to a recent post on my buddy’s Facebook wall, I don’t have to vent about crappy new versions of old Christmas songs. Those are often the subject of much distain on my part. Not all, but many. “Happy Holiday” just really gets my goat. Especially since it’s one of the songs that gets stuck in my head the most.
All that said, Merry Christmas to all and happy holidayS! Next year we’ll tackle Dean Martin’s classic version of “Rudy the Red Nosed Reindeer.”
Really Dean? Rudy?
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