Cathy's Grace Notes

Music of the Season

In the town in which I live, "Christmas" parties are happening even prior to Advent coming into season. Our themes at school focus around the holiday season and celebrating Christmas (think deep South Bible belt). XM radio on our cable now has the Christmas stations set up for different genres of Christmas music. For months stores have had Christmas items for sale.

Let me get back to the music, because I am listening to the Classical Christmas on XM radio right now. Every Valley from Handel's Messiah is being played. Lots of Baroque style music, choral music, chamber music, all lovely to listen to - some of what is being selected on this station is obviously Christmas music, while other music I think of as music of the season - something you could certainly listen to at other times of the year, while others on the station are dyed in the wool, undisputable Christmas music. It's the music I think of as "let's wait to sing it when the REAL CHRISTMAS SEASON arrives. Here are some of the hymns I have heard today that I want to tell the whoever is programming this - let's wait.. save it ...

Here are the ones I have heard that I have thought of as ones that should wait until Christmas;

1. Silent Night
2. O Little Town of Bethlehem
3. O Come All Ye Faithful
4. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
5. Joy to the World

This list is by no means comprehensive, nor are they particularly my favorites, but they are the ones I have heard while listening to this particular station today in which I think of as "sacred cows" --- and thinking - - - why are we hearing these before Advent???  Keep some of them at least until Christmas Eve.

What Christmas music are you hearing that you want saved until the Christmas season?

If you have a nickel

I like to read the statistics on my site meter. How do people end up at my blog? I especially like to read the ones where a person has done a search and ended up at my blog. I really really really wish the person that entered this search into Google would have left a comment as to why they were looking up this since I have been looking for the rest of the words of this song I learned as a child. Here is the search that the person put into Google and they knew enough about searching to put it into parentheses to get what they were looking for:

"if you have a nickel you can buy a popsicle"

I want to know if this person learned this song with me or at the same school, or if we can find out the rest of the words. I can't remember all of the lyrics and it's bothering me. I know this much

If you have a nickel, you can buy a popsicle,
you can buy it from the popsicle man.
You can have any flavor that you wish or you favor,
You can buy it from the popsicle man.

And then there is another part and I know there comes a part where there is a ring a ling a ling a ling (as the popsicle man's truck goes by)

So...... if you ever put this into a search engine and you come across this posting, please leave a comment as to where you KNOW this song from, and if you know any more of it.

At this point on Google, my blog is the only one that pops up with that entry. The words to the lyrics are my quest. I can provide the tune.