On the two different perspectives at the heart of two of our most famous
wintry tunes.
In one of my silliest posts, a Christmas
Day special from my first year on the blog, I dissected the hidden and
troubling meanings behind a few of our favorite holiday songs. The post was
largely tongue-in-cheek, although I do wish that Rudolph could gain fame and
friends without having to prove his usefulness to his boss first (a theme that
connects the red-nosed little fella to one Thomas the Tank Engine). But
the idea that even the most innocuous holiday tunes (like all popular art and
media, however seemingly simple or uncontroversial) can carry and convey much
more complex and significant themes and perspectives—well, about that I was and
am dead serious.
Take the example of two of the most enduring and popular wintry tunes, “Winter Wonderland” and “White Christmas.” Originally
composed in 1934 and 1942, respectively, these two classics have stood the test
of time and remain among the season’s most popular melodies (search YouTube for
both and notice how many contemporary artists have recorded versions), and one
key reason would seem to be just how universal and uncontroversial they are. Who
doesn’t enjoy a nice walk in a winter wonderland, followed by some canoodling
by the fire? Who doesn’t dream of a picturesque holiday season, one that can
carry them back to fond childhood memories? (Or, if they live in the deep south
or southwest or somewhere else where it doesn’t snow, to fond memories of songs
and TV specials about snow at the holidays.) These
are just some of our most deep-seated pleasures, and I’m not gonna argue the
point because I most definitely share them.
Yet just because these songs offer such shared pleasures doesn’t mean that
we can’t also consider and analyze some of their more subtle, and in this case
competing, themes and perspectives. For example, “Winter Wonderland” provides a
consistent thread of optimistic emphasis on the future, seen most explicitly in
the lines “Later on, we’ll conspire / As we dream, by the fire / To face
unafraid / The plans that we’ve made / Walking in a winter wonderland.” “White
Christmas” isn’t necessarily pessimistic, but its dreams focus in the opposite
direction, on the past: “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas / Just like the ones
I used to know.” I would argue that these two moments represent two distinct
kinds of American
hope—the latter focused on a desire to recapture nostalgic ideals about
where we’ve been, the former more on a hope that we can move into a better and
stronger future. While I tend to side more with the future focus—nostalgia,
while entirely human and inevitable, has its downsides—I would say that the
most enduring hope probably entails a combination of both of these
perspectives. So let’s keep singing both!
November recap tomorrow, then wintry crowd-sourcing this weekend,
Ben
PS. What do you
think? Takes on these songs? Cultural images of winter you’d highlight?
11/29 Memory Day nominees: A tie between two members of one of America’s most impressive families and father-daughter combos, Bronson Alcott and Louisa May Alcott.
No comments:
Post a Comment