Music in Rituals in My Life
I don't have a lot of experience with music and rituals that I remember. I don't remember the music at my Baptism or my First Communion and neither does my Mom. We talked about it and think it just went with the particular Sunday in the time in the Church calendar. There have not been any weddings in my family since I have been old enough to remember. There was not memorable music at my high school graduation. There was only background music as we walked in and it wasn't traditional entrance song. My Confirmation and 8th grade graduation ceremony were very abbreviated and not traditional as they both happened during peak Covid time.
My Grandma was the biggest music person in the family. She wasn't a musician, but she loved to listen to music and sing along. Christmas and holiday music was probably her favorite. One of her absolute favorites to sing along to that is just a silly song is "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" by Elmo and Patsy.
If you listen to the words, it's not a great song or story. The story the song tells is sad. The story is Grandma being killed during the holidays because she overindulged in eggnog. My Grandma didn't drink ever and she thought it had a catchy tune. She also thought it was funny that no one else really liked the song. She would sing it loud and laugh about it. Now that my Grandma is no longer with us, we all laugh at the holidays about how much we dislike a song she loved to sing.
Grandma singing Christmas songs was part of the holiday. She loved the older more traditional Christmas music. She really disliked when a newer artist would try to do a remake of a traditional song. She didn't like when they tried to jazz it up, as she would call it. Some of her favorites to sing were. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. She loved to sing Christmas music and it made her so happy to do it.
Grant Robertson - Hey Grant, I wanted to start off that I really like that you tried to think of some rituals to remember especially with reaching out to your mom to see. It shows you were truly invested, and the turn out was even better about your Grandmothers love of music! Great selections with Christmas coming up soon!!!
ReplyDeleteI can see your grandma had great taste haha. Though the lyrics are a bit offputting, the tune is so happy and catchy that I would also hum along with it if I heard it on the radio. I think it's funny how most Christmas songs are about Christ and the holiday spirit, but that song has nothing to do with either. Besides that, I think it's lovely that your grandma would sing to you. Thank you for sharing, and for reminding me of how catchy these songs are!
ReplyDeleteHey Grant. My favorite Christmas song ever is "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer". My grandparents also showed this song to me, and we would watch the little cartoon movie of it every Christmas. However, in the cartoon grandma did not die, she was found taken by Santa thankfully. I like how your blog is different; it brought back good memories of my grandparents.
ReplyDeleteHi there, Grant! That's so funny that her favorite Christmas song to sing was 'Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer.' There's a short movie called 'Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer' if you haven't seen it, I'd recommend it. It's so silly and is the song in animated form.
ReplyDeleteYour grandma seems like she was such a nice woman! I love how much she liked Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer even with everyone else's distaste. I never paid enough attention to the lyrics to know the sad backstory! I've only ever heard the song from the movie. Also, I love Take Me Home, Country Roads! That song reminds me of my grandma too, as she's from West Virginia.
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