Your favorite Christmas Song - Preferably Coin or Numismatically Related

northcoin

Well there is of course the "12 Days of Christmas" with its "5 Golden Rings," but for me the favorite is "Silver Bells."

I became partial to "Silver Bells" when by chance I got to watch Bob Hope and Phylicia Rand (the Cosby show mom) serenade each other in a boat on San Antonio's River Walk during the filming of one of, if not the last, of the Bob Hope Christmas Specials. (I know it was the last one where he went to visit "The Troops" though I believe there was one other filmed from his home.) I was in San Antonio on business and had my video camera with me back before camcorders were common place. I was allowed to video tape the multiple takes and somewhere I still have the footage on tape. Although it was still Fall, the whole Riverwalk had been lit up with Christmas lights for the taping of the Special.

One of the things about that magical evening that has stayed with me over the years was watching Bob Hope escort his wife Dolores over the arched bridge that crossed the waterway in front of their hotel on the Riverwalk. Despite their evident impaired mobility it was touching to see them ascend the arched bridge together arm in arm. Another thing that impressed me was how gracious Bob Hope was to the film crew when the cameras were turned off. He was more concerned about their comfort and well being than his own on that somewhat chilly evening. His eyesight was so poor at that point that the cue cards contained at most two or three words on each one so that the words could be big enough for him to read them.

So when I now hear "Silver Bells" it takes me back to that memory of a man from "The Greatest Generation" (as so termed by Tom Brokaw,) and how he exemplified the Christmas Spirit on that enchanted evening.

(The song itself was first performed in 1951 when Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell sang it in the Christmas movie, "The Lemon Drop Kid." Over the years it was a mainstay of multiple Bob Hope Christmas Specials. Below is a YouTube link to his performance of "Silver Bells" with Olivia Newton-John in a 1977 TV Special.)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2BjaRHH8q-g

And for a YouTube link to the 1951 original performance in the movie, "Lemon Drop Kid:"

https://youtube.com/watch?v=UNwGVgfkcgI

ricko

Very interesting post ... thanks northcoin. I like Christmas songs, and it is hard to designate a favorite. However, I have always liked Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives....just seems to bring it all together. Cheers, RickO

grip

Old Bing C.

coindeuce

1 " Little Drummer Boy " as performed by David Bowie and Bing Crosby.

2 " Grandma got run over by a reindeer " by Elmo and Patsy

3 " The First Noel " by Crash Test Dummies

CascadeChris

Yup. Grandma got run over by a reindeer has been tops on my list since I was a kid. Jingle bell rock too.

MrHalfDime

"Holly Jolly Christmas" by Burl Ives brings back some memories for me, also. Before I retired, I was an audio engineer who designed and installed large format sound reinforcement systems in various types of venues. Several years ago I was equalizing and making final adjustments on a large public arena sound system with another engineer. The final step in such an equalization process are the 'subjective' listening tests, in which you play music or speech material with which you are intimately familiar, to judge the system's 'transparency'. My associate brought with him a portable Ampex tape recorder with recordings of Burl Ives for us to evaluate the system with. We listened to endless playing of Burl Ives singing "Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas" .... all in the heat of July. After several hours it got a little old. Good song, though.

asheland

11:11

northcoin

@MrHalfDime said:
"Holly Jolly Christmas" by Burl Ives brings back some memories for me, also. Before I retired, I was an audio engineer who designed and installed large format sound reinforcement systems in various types of venues. Several years ago I was equalizing and making final adjustments on a large public arena sound system with another engineer. The final step in such an equalization process are the 'subjective' listening tests, in which you play music or speech material with which you are intimately familiar, to judge the system's 'transparency'. My associate brought with him a portable Ampex tape recorder with recordings of Burl Ives for us to evaluate the system with. We listened to endless playing of Burl Ives singing "Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas" .... all in the heat of July. After several hours it got a little old. Good song, though.

Most interesting. Imagine a "portable Ampex tape recorder" to play the music source for testing of a multi-thousand dollar public arena sound system!

johnny9434

grandpa got run over by a beer truck. does that count?
little toy trains by roger miller

fastfreddie

Not Christmas themed but how about Money - Pink Floyd.
Or favorite artist Eddie Money - lol

Seriously though, nothing beats Burl Ives. I still love to watch the Rudolf clay animation.

JohnnyCache

burl ives silver and gold

https://youtube.com/watch?v=rY-XDQN6ipE

Swampboy

Great post!
Not in any way coin related but I've always loved Berlin's White Christmas and just the last week arranged those gorgeous harmonies for solo guitar.

joeykoins

sorry

joeykoins

" Silver Bells" Can you imagine how actual Silver Bells would sound? Esp. if they are huge?

carabonnair

Christmas is coming,
The geese are getting fat,
Please put a penny
In the old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny,
A ha'penny will do,
If you haven't got a ha'penny,
Then God bless you.

jedm

Happy Xmas (War is Over) By John Lennon "Peace"

Ronyahski

Father Christmas, give us some money
Don't mess around with those silly toys
We'll beat you up if you don't hand it over
We want your bread so don't make us annoyed
Give all the toys to the little rich boys

-Father Christmas by the Kinks

cmanbb

Please come home for Christmas by the "Eagles"

northcoin

Thanks all.

Barberian

My favorite is "Knock knock knock", a children's hymn written by the Rev. William Grime.

Aspie_Rocco

A lost song from a lost garage rock band in the late 90s. Think they were called New death show or something... maybe a mike Sanchez was involved? Details hazy.

When you lay down, at the end of the evening, you try to wind down, so you begin dreaming,
Of a beautiful sum-mer, with your mouth open wide, taste the salt from the ocean,
as it pu-lls you un-der, the tide.
Now you’re under the water, practically drowning, the fish are all laughing, but Neptune is frowning, and a gigantic sea horse, he thinks you’re the main course, with his mouth open wide, he swal-lows you inside.
Then you realize you’re dreaming, and you’re in your own bed, it’s only winter, the flowers are dead, but it’s almost Christmas, and the snow is so blue, there’s such a distance, between me, and you.