3 Christmas songs

Ja ho he dit més d'una vegada - m'encanta nadal (m'encanta qualsevol festa), i m'encanten les cançons de nadal. És una tradició molt britanic, o anglosaxo, aixo de fer cançons de nadal de l'estil pop, jazz, soul, country, metal, punk .... i veig que els catalans també estan començant a fer-ho cada cop més. Les cançons de nadal, molt lligats a un determinat moment en la vida sempre porten records. Durant els 4 anys del blog he penjant una vintena d'exemples, i avui faré una cosa que normalment no faig - repetir cançons.

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I've said it before and I'll say it again - I love Christmas (and anything else you can celebrate) and I love Christmas songs - traditional ones of course, but now I'm thinking pop music, soul, country, rock, punk, all those Christmas songs that any artist worth their salt brings out at this time of year. Christmas songs are obviously closely connected in your mind to a certain moment in your life, and in this way they usually evoke memories in a way that "normal" songs perhaps don't.  I've posted over 20 of my faves during this blog's lifetime, and today I'll do something I vowed (almost) never to do - repeat songs.
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1. Slade - Merry Christmas Everybody

Aquesta em recorda les nits de nadal quan anavem al pub amb els amics de l'institut als principis del 80. Quan encara no tenies l'edad legal i el més gran de la colla havia de comprar les begudes. Ballant i saltant i cridant com un boig tan aviat comença aquesta joia. Buscant el famos "christmas kiss" d'alguna noia de classe en qui mai més tindries la valentia de parlar.

This one reminds me of the nights in Hoyland pubs in the early 80s, as underage drinkers with my comprehensive school mates - oldest-looking one getting the drinks in - screaming and jumping about like mad folk as soon as this song kicked in - trying to sneak a "Christmas kiss" with a girl from school who you'd probably never be brave enough to talk to again.

2. Fairytale of New York - Kirsty MacColl and the Pogues
Aquesta potser la millor cançó de nadal mai gravada. Té de tot.
Maybe the best Christmas song ever - it has everything - judge for yourselves.




3. Silver Bells - Jim Reeves
Aquesta em recorda quan era molt però molt jove, és dels primers records que tinc, veure el LP de cançons de nadal de mons pares - un disc de vinil en una tapa que obries i formava un escenari de nadal en relleu. Vam passar hores jugant amb això i posant aquest disc.

This is one of my earliest memories, Christmas-time or any-time, mum and dad's Christmas LP, a pop-up Christmas scene within the album cover, playing with the scene over and over, putting the record on the old record player - I've not got much of a memory, but this image seems like yesterday ....



So, just three songs - but if you are one of those people who doesn't have an extense knowledge of Christmas songs (you'd be surprised but these people exist) don't hestitate to check out my other posts!

4 songs - Kirsty MacColl

S'en parla molt dels artistes "famosos" que ens han deixat massa aviat - Lennon, Elvis, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, .... però de la Kirsty MacColl, es parla poc. Avuí, que no és ni el seu aniversari ni l'aniversari de la seva mort, toca fer-li un petit homentatge a aquesta gran cantant, i gran persona.

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Much has been said, and is said, about the well-known singers who have died too young, but not many "experts" talk about Kirsty MacColl. It's not her birthday, nor the anniversary of her death today, but evenso, here goes my homage to this great singer, and great person.

Bon Nadal amb la Fairytale of New York - Pogues with Kirsty MacColl

Bé, ja està aquí Nadal. Demà celebrem el naixement del Pare Noel ... ei, és broma, ja sé el que passa a la llegenda, però és que m’és més creïble el naixement de Pare Noel que el del fill de Deu!
Però desprès de tot, ja està bé que cada u cregui el que vol. On estaríem els ateus sense la religió? Seria com ser del Barça però sense el Real Madrid!

I el number one, all-time Christmas favourite (almenys la d'aquesta setmana) és aquesta joia. Cantat per Kirsty MacColl juntament amb els Pogues, la lletra és demolidora, però real. Els tipics immigrants irlandesos arribats a New York, vivint com poden, mentre els seus somnis no s’acompleixin mai. El típic Nadal, bevent, barallant-se, insultant-se ...com xalem! Bon Nadal, i fins al 2010!

Fairytale of New York (Finer/MacGowan) dels Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, de l’any 1987 - i a continuació, la lletra, poesia pura, i dura!



It was Christmas Eve, babe,
In the drunk tank, an old man said to me - won`t see another one
But then they sang a song, the Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away and dreamed about you
Got on a lucky one, came in eighteen to one
I´ve got a feeling this year´s for me and you, so Happy Christmas, I love you baby
I can see a better time where all our dreams come true.

They got cars big as bars, they got rivers of gold, but the wind goes right through you
it´s no place for the old
When you first took my hand on a cold Christmas Eve, you promised me Broadway was waiting for me
You´re handsome, you´re a pretty Queen of New York City,
When the band finished playing they howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging, all the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner and danced through the night.

And the boys from the NYPD choir were singing Galway Bay, and the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day.
You´re a bum, you´re a punk, you´re an old slut on junk lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy fagott, Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God it´s our last.
And the boys of the NYPD choir still singing Galway Bay, and the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day.

I could have been someone.
Well, so could anyone, you took my dreams from me when I first found you
I kept them with me babe, I put them with my own, can´t make it all alone, I´ve built my dreams around you
And the boys of the NYPD choir still singing Galway Bayand the bells are ringing out
for Christmas Day.