December 3: So after last night’s song, the natural progression of songs should be little Mikey J singing “I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause” and then “Blue Christmas”. However, I will choose not to follow the natural progression and break from the Fat Elf’s Tom-foolery. Our next song is a classic, sung by one of my favorite musicians of all time. Her talent for music is as good as it gets, making her a borderline virtuoso with a piano. Having been accepted at the Peabody institute at the age of five, and expelled from the aforementioned institute at age 11, Myra Ellen showed both her talent for music and a bit of edginess. This flare for the dramatic is not unlike her predecessor, Frances Ethel, who was known for acting talents and first brought this next song into the public light in Meet Me in St. Louis! While Frances was called the “ugly duck” of her class and felt those words wound her right up to her overdose death in 1969, Myra turned her early pain of abuse and “ugly girl” labels into a legendary album and one of my top three favorite albums ever (Save Radiohead’s OK Computer and the rotating spot of whatever I am obsessed with at the time). To me, the sadness that these ladies felt is cloaked in hope, and its progression mirrors the life-cycle of this next song. Originally penned as a depressing song of leaving behind the good, the tune was transformed into a hymn of hope. Original lyrics such as “Have yourself a merry little Christmas / It may be your last” were turned into “Have yourself a merry little Christmas / Let your heart be light”. And while Frances Ethel, stage name Judy Garland and original singer, struggled with her grief Myra Ellen, stage name Tori Amos and current singer, appears to have confronted it, and turned it into an art form. So while you may not be able to go from “It may be your last” to “Let your heart be light”, remember that you can find somewhere between the two and have yourself a Merry Christmas this year! https://youtube/watch?v=0iM_POWmgq4
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 06:11:36 +0000