Depressing Christmas Songs, Ctd

A reader writes:

You're going to have a hard time finding any Christmas song more depressing – or chilling – than Woody Guthrie's "1913 Massacre". Based on a horrible chapter in US labor history, it is one of the most powerful songs I've ever heard. It also demonstrates why Guthrie was among the greatest of American songwriters.

Another reader passes along an unreleased Bob Dylan cover from 1961. Lyrics after the jump:

Take a trip with me in 1913,
To Calumet, Michigan, in the copper country.
I will take you to a place called Italian Hall,
Where the miners are having their big Christmas ball.

I will take you in a door and up a high stairs,
Singing and dancing is heard everywhere,
I will let you shake hands with the people you see,
And watch the kids dance around the big Christmas tree.

You ask about work and you ask about pay,
They'll tell you they make less than a dollar a day,
Working the copper claims, risking their lives,
So it's fun to spend Christmas with children and wives.

There's talking and laughing and songs in the air,
And the spirit of Christmas is there everywhere,
Before you know it you're friends with us all,
And you're dancing around and around in the hall.

Well a little girl sits down by the Christmas tree lights,
To play the piano so you gotta keep quiet,
To hear all this fun you would not realize,
That the copper boss' thug men are milling outside.

The copper boss' thugs stuck their heads in the door,
One of them yelled and he screamed, "there's a fire,"
A lady she hollered, "there's no such a thing.
Keep on with your party, there's no such thing."

A few people rushed and it was only a few,
"It's just the thugs and the scabs fooling you,"
A man grabbed his daughter and carried her down,
But the thugs held the door and he could not get out.

And then others followed, a hundred or more,
But most everybody remained on the floor,
The gun thugs they laughed at their murderous joke,
While the children were smothered on the stairs by the door.

Such a terrible sight I never did see,
We carried our children back up to their tree,
The scabs outside still laughed at their spree,
And the children that died there were seventy-three.

The piano played a slow funeral tune,
And the town was lit up by a cold Christmas moon,
The parents they cried and the miners they moaned,

"See what your greed for money has done."

From The Cocoon

"When Palin talks, people from all walks of life listen. When she says we need to be cutting taxes instead of raising them, fighting terrorists instead of babying them, supporting our military instead of second-guessing it, and backing off the seeming endless push for global warming legislation until all the ramifications of Climategate are clear, conservative Americans hear a common-sense approach that sounds very much like Reagan," – AWR Hawkins, Pajamas Media.

Voting For Second Place, Ctd

A reader writes:

I intended to object to this last year, when that video of the soldier and his dogs won for “Mental Health Break” for 2008. By definition, that video was NOT a “mental health break” – in fact, it was quite heartbreaking to see such a stark reminder of the human (and canine) cost of the war.  The name “mental health break” implies that whatever I’m about to watch is going to take my mind off of those things in the political sphere than anger, energize or upset us in some way.  The video last year was devastating in a way, as were all of those videos of the kids and soldiers reuniting.  That’s not a “break” by any definition of the term, but rather is perhaps the best reminder we have of why the rush to war in Iraq was one of the most colossal mistakes in judgment in recent memory.  Those videos make me sad and angry.  Silly videos of random things that allow me to shut my brain off for 3-5 minutes and appreciate nothing more than human creativity – that’s what this award should represent. 

Depressing Christmas Songs, Ctd

Several readers have recommended “How To Make The Gravy” by Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly. One writes:

It has depressing, slightly schmaltzy subject matter (man in jail missing Christmas writes a letter to a family member), but leaves you really appreciating what we often take for granted during Christmas.  Throw in a recipe for gravy (light on the specifics, but good on the general idea) and references to Nina Simone and Junior Murvin and you have, IMO, one of the best damn Christmas songs ever. 

Lyrics after the jump: Hello Dan, it’s Joe here, I hope you’re keeping well
It’s the 21st of December, and now they’re ringing the last bells
If I get good behaviour, I’ll be out of here by July
Won’t you kiss my kids on Christmas Day, please don’t let ’em cry for me

I guess the brothers are driving down from Queensland and Stella’s flying in from the coast
They say it’s gonna be a hundred degrees, even more maybe, but that won’t stop the roast
Who’s gonna make the gravy now? I bet it won’t taste the same
Just add flour, salt, a little red wine and don’t forget a dollop of tomato sauce for sweetness and that extra tang

And give my love to Angus and to Frank and Dolly,
Tell ’em all I’m sorry I screwed up this time
And look after Rita, I’ll be thinking of her early Christmas morning
When I’m standing in line
 
I hear Mary’s got a new boyfriend, I hope he can hold his own
Do you remember the last one? What was his name again?
(Just a little too much cologne)
And Roger, you know I’m even gonna miss Roger
‘Cause there’s sure as hell no one in here I want to fight

Oh praise the Baby Jesus, have a Merry Christmas,
I’m really gonna miss it, all the treasure and the trash
And later in the evening, I can just imagine,
You’ll put on Junior Murvin and push the tables back

And you’ll dance with Rita, I know you really like her,
Just don’t hold her too close, oh brother please don’t stab me in the back
I didn’t mean to say that, it’s just my mind it plays up,
Multiplies each matter, turns imagination into fact

You know I love her badly, she’s the one to save me,
I’m gonna make some gravy, I’m gonna taste the fat
Tell her that I’m sorry, yeah I love her badly, tell ’em all I’m sorry,
And kiss the sleepy children for me

You know one of these days, I’ll be making gravy,
I’ll be making plenty, I’m gonna pay ’em all back.
 

All the best, and a good end-of-year celebration for you

Throw The Bastards Out

James Joyner thinks I might dump Obama in 2012:

Andrew came here from England in 1984 after winning a Harkness Fellowship to Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has not supported the same man twice.

Reagan was ineligible to run again in 1988, so voting for his vice president, George H.W. Bush, is as close as he could have come. But he didn’t vote to re-elect Bush, going with Bill Clinton instead. But he didn’t vote to re-elect Clinton, going with Dole. He supported George W. Bush in 2000 but voted against him in 2004. He voted for Obama in 2008.

The pattern could change, of course. He’s genuinely disgusted with the Republican Party at this point. But, if they nominate a palatable candidate, there’s a strong, strong likelihood that Andrew will endorse him rather than going with Obama a second time.

'Tis possible, I 'spose. No party or clique and all that.

But it's hard to see a Republican out there who isn't beholden to fundamentalism of such misguided certainty that it would be tough. But you never know. The fickleness of my endorsements, however, should surely be judged on the merits of each call. My backing for Dole was entirely on character grounds: I readily admitted that I was fine with Clinton's substantive policies and preferred them to Dole's, but felt that Clinton's lying was so pathological that we couldn't risk another term. My only real regret is Bush in 2000. I trusted Bush's incompetence over Gore's insufferable ego. But I suspect that with the invasion of Iraq, the end-result would have been the same. They both would have gone in on false pretenses. And would have failed for similar reasons.