Blog

This one is my gift to all of you. :-) The song was originally by sung Judy Garland in “Meet Me in St. Louie”. Whenever I sing a Christmas set list, I close with this song, featuring simple solo vocals and acoustic guitar.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on, our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yuletide gay
From now on, our troubles will be far away

Here we are, as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bow
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now

Enjoy.

This is a simple arrangement of Rudolph played on a lead guitar, an acoustic guitar, and some quiet percussion, featuring a head-nodding accent on beats 2 and 4. But the best part of the song is the extra verse at the end, where the reindeer actually apologize to poor Rudy.

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
Had a very shiny nose
And if you ever saw it
You would even say it glows

All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names
They never let poor Rudolph
Join in any reindeer games

Then one foggy Christmas eve
Santa came to say:
“Rudolph with your nose so bright
Won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”

Then how the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee
“Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
you’ll go down in history.”

Well Rudolph he didn’t go for that
He said “I see through your silly games”
How could you look me in the face
When only yesterday you called me names?

Well all of the other reindeers, man,
well they sure did feel ashamed,
“Rudolph you know we’re sorry,
we’re truly gonna try to change.”

Enjoy:

Chick rock! This three-sister band is awesome to watch at a live concert, because they rotate instruments and all play everything with equal proficiency. They use a lot of synthesizer to create the orchestral sound in addition to the drums, driving rock guitar, bass, and amazing vocal harmonies. I love how the piece alternates from calm to crazy and back to calm, such as the riffs at 1:34, 1:55, etc. They’re queens of incredible harmonies, like the floating descant at 2:00 and the rich alto at 2:37.

O Holy Night

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appear’d and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born,

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.

Fall on your knees! O, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born,
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

Enjoy: