In a few days, your television will start its relentless barrage of Christmas movies. Some are good, most are middling, and one stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad. But 1954's White Christmas, directed by the prolific Michael Curtiz, is something you might actually want to watch every year. Sure, it's hokey, but you can catch Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney in peak form, and the Technicolor looks tastier than a candy cane. The main attraction, though, is the music by Irving Berlin.
Berlin was a giant of American song, composing "God Bless America," "Blue Skies," "Always," and hundreds more. He wasn't as clever as Cole Porter, but also not as cloying. He might not have had the effortless grace of the Gershwins, but his songs stick in your head like peanut butter in a dog's mouth. His work is all the more remarkable when you consider English wasn't even his first language. The Dr. Seuss-like wordplay of "Puttin' On the Ritz" was written by a guy who spent the first five years of his life in eastern Europe. Doesn't that impress you? And kind of make you feel like a shithead?
You're probably asking what this has to do with Thanksgiving. White Christmas was basically a jukebox musical, years before Mamma Mia! left its dark imprint on this earth. The song "White Christmas" debuted in the 1942 film Holiday Inn, becoming probably the most popular recording of all time, and Bing wanted an excuse to sing it again. Some other Berlin classics were lined up and a thin story concocted around them. In addition to the oldies, Berlin did contribute the previously unheard "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep," earning an Oscar nomination for Best Song.
This is what brings us to Thanksgiving. Though often considered a Christmas song, "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep" (not to be confused with the old hymn, "Count Your Blessings") is an openhearted appeal for us to consider what we appreciate most. If the Production Code had allowed Berlin to write a song called, "I Moved to this Country Without a Penny and Now I'm a Millionaire, So Quit Whining and Get Off Your Ass" he would have. But instead, we get this simple wisdom: "When my bankroll's getting small/ I think of when I had none at all/ And I fall asleep/ Counting my blessings."
The song provides White Christmas with one of its best moments. And though Bing could croon like no other, I've recently heard a beautiful recording by that Canadian temptress Diana Krall. I can tell you what her husband, Elvis Costello, is thankful for...
TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION: "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep" by Diana Krall
AVAILABLE ON: Christmas Songs; iTunes
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
You nailed it. Berlin's crafty songwriting and rags-to-riches success should make us all feel like shitheads. (By the way, that zinger made me laugh out loud!)
Diana Krall is beautiful and talented, but Elvis, with his quirkiness and charming lyrics, is an equal match. I'm certain that the two of them are grateful for each other, and, on this day of thanks, my inner-romantic can't help but empathize.
Post a Comment