I finally decided on a carol to blog to participate in footnoteMaven's Blog Caroling. I might have mentioned in a previous post that along with the 7 years of piano lessons that I took when I was younger, I also took 5 years of ballet, tap, and jazz lessons. Every year my class would perform a ballet dance to Silver Bells for the Christmas recital. It was an elegant dance perfectly choreographed to the gentle sways in the music, and to this day whenever I hear Silver Bells, I instantly think of that dance. However, I don't think I could perform it now. [*snort* Who am I kidding? I know I couldn't perform it now.] Also, I think part of its appeal to me is that the lyrics describe Christmas celebrated in a big city where there's lots of hustle and bustle, and most especially, where there is snow. A very foreign concept to a little girl who grew up in a small town near where the below pic was taken. [Yes, those are palm trees.]:
Behind The Music
According to Wikipedia, Silver Bells, composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, was first recorded by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards in 1950. Since then it has been recorded many [and I do mean "many"] times by many artists. Lucky for you, though, I found a recording of it by Johnny Mathis [My mom's fave.] on You Tube with an accompanying slide show from SirKnott. [Trust me, you don't want to hear me sing it.] The lyrics are below the video as well. So, get your hot toddy or your hot cocoa [Or, hey, why not both? You deserve it.] and snuggle up to your computer to listen to Johnny Mathis perform Silver Bells. Can you hear them ring?
Having problems viewing the video? View on YouTube here.
Silver Bells
Silver bells, silver bellsIt's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas day
City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style
In the air there's a feeling of Christmas
Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile
And on every street corner you'll hear
Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas day
Christmas makes you feel emotional
It may bring parties or thoughts devotional
Whatever happens or what may be
Here is what Christmas time means to me
Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas day
Soon it will be Christmas day
One of my all time favorites too but it takes me back to my figure skating Christmas Carnivals. I was watching the Radio City Rockettes tonight and thinking, hey I did the same moves but on ice!! PS - you need a little snow on those palm trees. I have a ton here I can send you're way.
ReplyDeleteSharon (@_sharondipity_)
Thank you, so much, for sharing this post!
ReplyDeleteKeep those stories coming!
Bill ;-)
http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/
Happy Holidays Caroline! I stopped by from the Aspiring Writer's club at MBC. I have to say Mathis' rendition is my favorite. And coincidentally, I was already drinking hot chocolate as I was reading your VERY COOL blog! Thank you for the reminisce.
ReplyDeleteSharon, figure skating is just ballet on ice, right? Your right about the snow. I should have "manipulated" the photo so that it had snow on the palm trees. Now that would've been funny! Thanks for visiting!
ReplyDeleteDr. Bill, Thanks for the visit.
Vivianne, welcome to Family Stories and thank you for taking the time out of this very busy holiday season to visit, and thank you for the compliment. Come back soon!
-Caroline
I found you through MyBlogLog...what a great looking blog!
ReplyDelete