Okay, so with only a couple more chances to play some meaningful Christmas music, I decided to go with this one! Something deep, something meaningful … something to show the spirit of the holiday, eh?
New Jersey-native Lou Monte (born Louis Scaglione April 2, 1917–June 12, 1989) was an Italian American singer/guitarist best known for a number of best-selling, Italian-themed novelty records.
Monte first recorded this tale of a donkey that helps Santa Claus bring presents to children in Italy in 1960 and in time it became a Christmas staple in many Italian-American households. The song was written by Ray Allen, Sam Saltzberg and Wandra Merrell, and was little known in the UK until BBC Radio 1 morning program presenter Chris Moyles began playing it as a recurring festive motif on his show. In the week leading up to Christmas of 2011, the DJ casually suggested that listeners might like to download the song from iTunes and Amazon to get it into the charts. The result was that the song made its first ever UK chart appearance at #3. Said Moyles: “We’ve been playing Dominick the Donkey on our show every Christmas for years – our listeners love it. I’m so excited that it’s made it into the charts – consider it my Christmas present to the nation. But don’t blame me if you hear it every Christmas from now on.”
Dominick the Donkey
Lou Monte
Hey, chingedy ching, hee haw, hee haw
It’s Dominick, the donkey
Chingedy ching, hee haw, hee haw
The Italian Christmas donkey
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, ladioda
Santa’s got a little friend, his name is Dominick
The cutest little donkey, you never see him kick
When Santa visits his Paesans with Dominick he’ll be
Because the reindeer cannot climb the hills of Italy
Hey, chingedy ching, hee haw, hee haw
It’s Dominick, the donkey
Chingedy ching, hee haw, hee haw
The Italian Christmas donkey
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, ladioda
Jingle bells around his feet and presents on the sled
Hey, look at the mayor’s derby on top of Dominick’s head
A pair of shoes for Louie and a dress for Josephine
The label on the inside says they’re made in Brooklyn
Hey, Chingedy ching, hee haw, hee haw
It’s Dominick, the donkey
Chingedy ching, hee haw, hee haw
The Italian Christmas donkey
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, ladioda
Children sing and clap their hands and Dominick starts ta dance
They talk Italian to him and he even understands
Cummares’ and Cumpare’s do the dance a tarentell
When Santa Nicola comes to town and brings il ciucciariello
Hey, chingedy ching, hee haw, hee haw
It’s Dominick, the donkey
Chingedy ching, hee haw, hee haw
The Italian Christmas donkey
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, ladioda
Hey Dominick, Bouna Natale
Hee haw, hee haw, hee haw, hee haw, hee haw
Writer/s: Ray Allen, Sam Saltzberg, Wandra Merrell
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind
‘Twas the Monday before Christmas,
‘Twas the Monday before Christmas,
Okay, folks, that’s the extent of my poetic talent. The part about every creature stirring is true … the kitties get restless when there are goings-on afoot, such as present wrapping, packages being carried in, and they have been in rare form tonight … only two fights so far, but Boo has been doing his best to turn the television over trying to get at the kitty he thinks is inside of it. Young Boo has recently developed a television addiction. I blame daughter Chris for this, as she plays kitty videos for him when she’s home. When she’s not home, he’s fine, but the minute she walks through the door in the evening, he jumps up on the table in front of the t.v. and waits for her to turn it on for him!
And for our young friend Benjamin, who is back for the first time in over a month …
Jingle Bells was written for Thanksgiving, not Christmas. The song was written in 1857 by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title One Horse Open Sleigh. It was supposed to be played in the composer’s Sunday school class during Thanksgiving as a way to commemorate the famed Medford sleigh races. Jingle Bells was also the first song to be broadcast from space. Nine days before Christmas in 1965, the two astronauts aboard Gemini 6 suddenly sent an odd report to Mission Control that they saw an “unidentified flying object” about to enter Earth’s atmosphere, traveling in the polar orbit from north to south. They interrupted the tense report with the sound of “Jingle Bells” with Wally Schirra playing a small harmonica and accompanied by Tom Stafford with a handful of small sleigh bells they had smuggled aboard for that very occasion.
Japanese people traditionally eat at KFC for Christmas dinner. Although the percentage of Christian people in Japan is close to zero, every Christmas, kids and grown-ups head to the closest KFC to enjoy some fried chicken – the closest food to turkey that you can get in Japan. It’s all thanks to a successful “Kentucky for Christmas!” marketing campaign in 1947. First aimed at foreigners, KFC offered a “Christmas dinner” that contained chicken and wine – a meal that remotely resembled the food expats and tourists had at home. After a huge success, Kentucky Fried Chicken started promoting this offer every year, until the fast food chain became strongly associated with the holiday season.
You might want to brew a cup o’ tea when decking your halls this year. The origin of Christmas trees goes all the way back to ancient Egyptians and Romans, who marked the winter solstice with evergreens as a reminder that spring would return soon. But it wasn’t until Prince Albert of Germany introduced the tree to his new wife, Queen Victoria of England, that the tradition really took off. A drawing of the couple in front of a Christmas tree appeared in Illustrated London News way back in 1848 and as we say today, the idea went viral.
According to legend, we hang our stockings by the chimney with care thanks to a poor man who didn’t have the money for his three daughters’ dowries. Generous old St. Nick dropped a bag of gold down their chimney one night, where the girls had hung their stockings to dry by the fire. That’s where the gold ended up, and allegedly how the tradition began.
Friends, I would like to just take this opportunity to let you all know how much you mean to me … and Jolly. The very best thing about this blog has been the wonderful people I’ve met … I feel as if I’ve actually acquired a whole new family. A couple of times, in times of extreme angst, I have considered giving up this blog … but the thought never lasts for long, for I would miss you all entirely too much. Thank you all for being such great friends! Jolly and I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas. Love ‘n hugs from Filosofa and Jolly!
Snowball
Once There Was a Snowman
And my very favourite one of all …
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
Four reindeer had vanished without much propriety,
So…half of the reindeer were gone, and his wife
So Santa just stood there, disheveled and perplexed,
Filosofa's Word 