“Christmastime Is Here” by Rosie Thomas, Thursday, December 29, 2022
HAPPINESS AND CHEER. I certainly won't be blogging much more about Christmas music, even though my family has delayed Christmas for my homecoming a month after the holiday. However, I thought that an inclusion of Rosie Thomas's "Christmastime Is Here" is a worthy entry to my playlist. Like many households, Vince Guaraldi Trio's A Charlie Brown Christmas was one of our holiday standards when I was growing up. It is the only Christmas album my dad likes, and "Christmastime Is Here" is his favorite Christmas song. The song was performed as an instrumental and with a church's children's choir who represent the singing voices of the Peanuts gang. "Christmastime Is Here" became a holiday standard and has been covered by other artists including Debbie Boone, Mel Tormé, Rosemary Clooney, R.E.M., Stone Temple Pilots, Starflyer 59, and Family Force 5. "Christmastime Is Here" doesn't always translate in its cover versions for when artist adds the merest characteristic of their own sound to the song, they risk tainting the original feeling of the Christmas special. The Starflyer 59 version inadvertently does this making the song sound too weird.
BEAUTY EVERYWHERE. Rosie Thomas's "Christmastime Is Here" opens her 2008 holiday record, A Very Rosie Christmas. I think Thomas's version is one of the best I've heard. While Vince Guaraldi Trio's version is classic, I often felt the instrumental was better than the vocal version. The children's voices are flawed and awkward, though much better than his version of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." But Rosie Thomas's vocals texture is often childlike, and "Christmastime" is no exception. Furthermore, Thomas keeps the melancholy of the track but embellishes beautifully. The piano, too, plays interesting countermelodies as Thomas sings. By keeping the melancholy in the song, listeners are reminded of the plight of Charlie Brown, a boy who has enough, but still can't seem to find his happiness. Christmas is a time that depresses him because he sees so much happiness around him, but he doesn't understand how he can be happy. He's a child with adult problems that many of us feel particularly around the holidays. It's the kind of joy that we feel is lacking from our lives when we see others' Instagram wraps from the year and we wonder what we've been doing with ourselves. Linus offers some words about the "true meaning of Christmas" which seems to set Charlie Brown straight until the next holiday, but it seems like the melancholy fog persists over the Peanuts crew thanks to Charlie Brown.
Rosie Thomas version:
Vince Guaraldi Trio version (vocal):
Starflyer 59 version:
Family Force 5 version:
Lauren Daigle version:
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