John Lucas
I work with words.
Category: music
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ABBA’s “Happy New Year” is, in some ways, the perfect song for January 1, opening with lyrics that refer directly to the festivities of the night before. “From there, though, things take a decidedly darker turn.
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For the non-Gaels in the room, Hogmanay is what Scottish people call New Year’s Eve, an event traditionally celebrated with festive gatherings, fireworks, and the singing of “Auld Lang Syne”.
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He moves away from the mic to breath in. Let us all follow his example.
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Today is National Short Film, and while I’m pretty sure that “national” refers to the United States (the observance was started by the New York-based Film Movement), let’s not let that stop us from celebrating here in Canada. Or wherever you are as you read this.
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For those not familiar with it, Kwanzaa is an African-American celebration of culture and unity. It was created in the 1960s by a Black separatist named Maulana Karenga. He is a pretty controversial figure! Then again, so was Jesus, and we still celebrate his holiday, don’t we?
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There aren’t that many songs about what happens after the holiday, so while this song has a “visualizer” rather than a video, I’m posting it anyway, thus breaking more than one of my self-imposed rules.
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This is the definitive version, and I won’t entertain any arguments to the contrary.
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The song, which incorporates parts of “Carol of the Bells” and “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen”, was first released by Savatage (a heavy-metal band featuring future members of Trans-Siberian Orchestra) on a 1995 album called Dead Winter Dead.
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Festivus was certainly popularized when it appeared as a plot point in “The Strike”, a 1997 episode of Seinfeld. However, it was actually invented decades earlier, in 1966.
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If anyone ever commented on any of these posts, they might suggest that one genre I have been neglecting is straight-up rock music. Like, fist-in-the-air, hair-whipping, Camaro-driving, Circle-K-parking-lot-loitering hard-rockin’ rock.
John Lucas 