the songs of Christmas

When we were kids back in the early eighties(the best time ever to be a kid, as far as I am concerned--more on that later), we would listen to records as we decorated the tree. My parents had two Christmas records, and they were, and still are, the best compilation of Christmas music in the world. There was one song I dreaded though--the most mournful song you'll ever hear--"No Room in the Inn, " as sung by Mahalia Jackson. It begins very slowly, "When Mary and Joseph went out on their journey..." and proceeds to go on about how weary they were and how the Innkeepers told them there was no room in Inn and how Jesus was born in a manger. And when I was little, I wanted to cry every time I heard it, and because I was and am a freak, I hated crying--still do--so I had to fight back those tears. I knew where on the record the song was and got such tremendous anxiety as we got closer to the song. How could anyone tell Mary and Joseph that there was no room for them? Just thinking about it now brings tears. After experiencing pregnancy I feel even more in awe of Our Blessed Mother. Of course, there are lots of times in our lives when we have no room for Jesus, probably lots of times throughout a day. Sigh. But we try to make room.

The song I loved and looked forward to was the Jim Neighbors version of "Go Tell it on a Mountain". "If No Room in the In" is the suffering, fatigue, and fear of those days, "Go Tell it on a Mountain" is the joy. Advent vs. Christmas. You hear it and you want to just dance like crazy and sing from the top of your lungs. I love it toward the end of the song when he belts out "Tell it on a Mountaaaiiiinnnnnn!"

And although the ipod has replaced the record player, we listened to each of those tonight as we trimmed the tree. And "Last Christmas," as sung by George Michael, because, as I have said, we are children of the eighties.

Our tree is beautiful. The coverage on the bottom is excellent. Annabelle is of the school "more is more" and likes to put all of the ornaments on the same branches. Looks really good actually and it takes the guess work out of where to put each one. I am going to finish the top that way.