Turns out,
the song is completely appropriate for our toasty climate. Singer
and composer, Mel Torme was in California on the hottest day on record in the mid-40s preparing
for a songwriting session with lyricist, Robert Wells. Torme noticed a spiral
pad of paper containing four hand-written lines: Chestnuts roasting on an open
fire, Jack Frost… Yuletide carols….Folks dressed up like Eskimos. When Torme asked Wells about the verse, Wells
replied that he was just jotting down winter memories of Boston to take
his mind off the heat.
Forty-five
minutes later, the songwriting duo finished penning “The Christmas Song,” and
it became Nat King Cole’s signature Holiday song and a popular sensation.
A-daily-dose-of–art.com
A year later,
another composer on the opposite side of the country named Leroy Anderson had a
similar experience. Connecticut was undergoing a fierce drought and unseasonal heat
wave. While digging for pipes that lead to a spring, Anderson started
formulating music with the vision of a 19th century winter scene in
his head. He finished composing “Sleigh Ride” a year and a half later after
moving to Brooklyn, New York. It was first performed by the Boston Pops
Orchestra in May, 1948. The instrumental piece became a huge holiday hit,
enjoyed by folks in any clime. In 1950, Mitchell Parish added lyrics: Just hear
those sleigh bells ring-a-ling, ting, ting, ting-a-ling, too…
Photo credit
– The Leroy Anderson Foundation
And then
there’s the obvious pining-for-snow song, “White Christmas.” Truly, few north-eastern
transplants are wishing for the white stuff, due to harrowing memories of
shoveling it, scraping it and slipping on it for too many years. They’re most
likely ecstatic to be miles away from the slush, and probably moved to the
Sunshine State to escape it. But,
hailing from snow-deprived Southern California, and being spared the cold’s
down side, I still romanticize the sight of whipped cream scenery, and sing
every word of Irving Berlin’s verse. The sun is shining, the grass is green.
The orange and palm trees sway. There’s never been such a day in Beverly Hills,
LA. But, it’s December the 24th, and I am longing to be up north. I’m
dreaming of a White Christmas…
So, here are a few South Florida events that will help you forget the temperature and find
that Holiday frame of mind: See the Del
Rey Tree Lighting or Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite Ballet” at the Kravis
Center December 1st through the 3rd. Take in “A Christmas Carol” at the Broward
Center for the Performing Arts, playing through December 2nd. “A Christmas Carol - the Musical” is also
offered throughout the month. And don’t
miss the classic, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” at the Kravis Center on December
23rd.
If those
productions don’t get you into the Holiday spirit, try singing this Florida-inspired
parody of “The Christmas Song.”
Chuck steaks roasting on an open grill
A/C nipping at your nose
Yule tide carols being sung by the pool
That overflows with dangling toes
Everybody knows a turkey and some mojitos
Help to make the spirits bright
Shiny yachts with their decks all aglow
Will twinkle on Palm Beach tonight
We all know Santa’s on his way
He’s bringing high-powered generators on
his sleigh
Every adult and child is going to spy
To see his reindeer touching down at PBI
And so I’m offering this simple phrase
To snowbirds 12 to 92
Although we might sweat, we will
celebrate yet
Merry Christmas to you!
(Lyrics © 2017 A. Shaw)
