An insurance website has released a list of the most dangerous Christmas songs to drive to, and while I won’t copy the entire list I will say there are some surprises. The biggest surprise to me is that Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer wasn’t included, or at least didn’t crack the top ten. Maybe the idea of the elderly being hit by a careless sleigh driver makes drivers more careful, though.
I was less surprised that the under-appreciated melody Good King Wenceslas didn’t make the list either. Its toe-tapping beat might cause drivers to go up and down on the accelerator, but it’s not really a popular Christmas song anymore. I’d like to see it make a comeback since it tells the story of a king who goes out in heavy snow to spread some of his wealth around to those who need it. Maybe the legend is too obscure, and the song probably isn’t helped by being set on December 26th, though I think there’s a solid message there that charity shouldn’t be limited to just the holidays. It’s also part of the funniest moment in Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas In Wales when a group of boys go caroling at what they think might be a haunted house and are suddenly terrified when a mysterious voice joins them singing Good King Wencelas looked out/On the Feast of Stephen…
I heard about this list while driving in to work because a couple of morning DJs were discussing it and offering up their own suggestions, including Jingle Bell Rock and I’ll Be Home For Christmas—the thought of getting home probably causes more than a few drivers to speed up. The list is actually based on an earlier study that found that any song, not just Christmas songs, with more than 120 beats per minute can have both psychological and cardiovascular effects that might lead to dangerous driving. And one of the DJs even said, “Yeah, any song with a rapid beat is probably gonna make you a little more reckless on the road.”
Then they played We Didn’t Start The Fire and I had to turn off the radio.
The disturbing undertone to Good King Wenceslas is that he almost killed his page, dragging the poor guy around with him in the dead of winter. Dude, if you want to gather wood and stuff for the poor don’t make your servants do the heavy lifting! LOL. Personally, my favourite carol is the version of Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth by David Bowie and Bing Crosby. Perfection.
Okay, Good King Wenceslas does have a disturbing undertone, but you’ve got to figure if he’s a good king he’s not the sort to go around killing pages. It sounds to me like the page got to share in the feast, although you’re right, ol’ Wenceslas should have done at least some of the work himself. I remember seeing the video of Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth by David Bowie and Bing Crosby when I was…well, I was pretty young. I think it was on MTV back when it was still a new channel. I think I saw it a few times and it’s nice that we have YouTube now so I can watch it any time I want, which is usually around Christmas.
Your blog posts are music to my ears, my friend.
Your songs are definite toe-tappers as well, Ann, and always raise my heart rate, which means just listening to them is good exercise.