Let’s put the whole “one-horse open sleigh” and “making spirits bright” thing aside for a second and look at the rest of the verses for “Jingle Bells.” Want the CliffsNotes version? The man driving the sleigh picks up a gal, promptly dumps himself and his date into a snowdrift, gets laughed at by a stranger, then encourages more people to do the same. And this sort of thing goes on in a slew of carols.
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C-VILLE Playlist What we’re listening to… “Family Tree,” by TV on the Radio (from Dear Science) “Turnin’ on the Screw,” by Queens of the Stone Age (from Era Vulgaris) “Love Lockdown,” by Kanye West (from 808s and Heartbreak) “Jailhouse Tears,” by Lucinda Williams, with Elvis Costello (from Little Honey) “Roda,” by Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 (from Look Around …on vinyl) “The World is Yours,” by Nas (from Illmatic) “Many Shades of Black,” by The Raconteurs (from Consolers Of The Lonely) |
Think about the poor sap writing cards in “White Christmas,” for Dasher’s sake! And that lurid scene in “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”? Hope Father Christmas got you a chaise lounge this year, little buddy.
Here’s the point, people—there’s a bit of coal in your holiday carols, just enough to help you appreciate the sweetness of the season. In It’s a Wonderful Life, George Bailey couldn’t have shared the joy of an angel getting its wings if he hadn’t come a within a stocking of doing a few years in the pen for fraud. And while Mary Chapin Carpenter isn’t trying to take away your Christmas joy, Come Darkness, Come Light—the Batesville resident’s first album since she suffered a pulmonary embolism on tour in 2007—doesn’t necessarily jingle all the way.
“I think there’s that side of Christmas that’s very much a part of the holiday, that not everyone walks around feeling like they’re in a outtake of It’s a Wonderful Life,” Carpenter told C-VILLE during a phone interview. “It’s a very, very difficult time during the year for a lot of folks.”
Instead, the record burns dark and a bit heavy like pine needles on a fire. Songs like Tommy Thompson’s somber love tune “Hot Buttered Rum” shares space with other modestly decorated tunes like John Rutter’s “Candlelight Carol”—a lot of the choral and folk music Carpenter plays around her home on the holidays—and a few tunes from Carpenter herself, who pieced the record together during what she calls time spent “regaining her health.”
“I had to torpedo [plans],” said Carpenter. “I had a record up a year and a half ago, and I became suddenly ill and had to suspend everything…This record was something that was fun to do because I didn’t have to leave home to do it.”
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The weather outside is frightful, but her spirit is so delightful! Local Grammy winner Mary Chapin Carpenter splits the holidays between somber tunes and farm parties! |
The time off served her well: In addition to Come Darkness, Come Light, Carpenter says she’s writing for a new record of original material and hopes to get back on the road in 2009. And Carpenter may have it in her to throw one of her pleasantly raucous Christmas parties.
“John Carroll, my piano player…has come to many Christmas parties where I’ve forced him to sit down at the piano and play all night,” said Carpenter. “‘The First Noel,’ ‘Jingle Bells,’ everything you have imprinted on you from the day you’re born. And singing as loud as you can, just having a ball.”
And are these annual affairs?
“Not every year, but I’ve thrown a few,” answered Carpenter. “The first time I ever moved into my own home I started throwing Christmas parties…Actually, the first Christmas party, at probably two in the morning, we rolled back the rug and had everybody dancing. At this point, carols were over; it was rock ’n’ roll.”
Stocking stuffers
Too early to dive headlong into the holidays? Well, like it or not, it’s happening, people: Curtain Calls received his first batch of Christmas albums in the mail during the last week—A Very Rosie Christmas from indie cutie pie Rosie Thomas, and Tis the Season from Barbara Martin and Mac Walter, who perform at the fireplace-cozy Barking Cherry House Concert Series on December 6 at 8pm.
The impending wintry mix of family and festivities also means a whole lot of wrapping gifts and swapping stories. To liven things up a bit—what, you don’t YouTube share with your family?—here are a few videos to get those gift ideas flowing. And to keep you highly entertained, of course.
Pid Geon Babylon, Revisited—Our local skateboard crew, The Argyle Team, made an instant classic with this skate film, which showed at The Bridge/Progressive Arts Initiative in its latest form this summer. And by “classic,” we mean fish-eye lenses, kickflips in the Frank Ix Building, and a tracking shot that runs the length of West Main Street. Catch a glimpse (youtube.com/watch?v=onCwe0dqA0w), or call the über-cool Black Cat Skateshop to ask about where you might get a copy.
Steve Keene’s Mr. Jaws—The former local returns this week and turns Second Street Gallery into a paint-sloshing studio from December 6-12. His work makes a great, inexpensive gift and will be sold out of Second Street during the exhibit, but you can only catch a gem like Mr. Jaws, a Web-only animation involving sharks and a lot of beer, here: youtube.com/watch?v=e1kmFi8riwg. (Check back next week for more on Keene.)
Russell Payne’s “Wonderful World”—We stumbled across this link to a slideshow of local Christmas photos reportedly from the ’50s and ’60s, including a very Norman Rockwell shot of The Paramount Theater, pre-Downtown Mall and renovations, and a fairly non-P.C. photo around the 2:43 mark. youtube.com/watch?v=GgDtRvrJ1IE0.
