What'd I Say?

I've been singing carols for the past few weeks, and certain things have come up.

First, of course, is the story of Rudolph. (By the way, sing the verse to Rudolph and then go into "Frosty The Snowman"--it's fun.) I'm not the first to note it teaches an awful lesson.

You've got this creature everyone makes fun of because of how he looks.  And his solution is not to tell them looks don't matter, or give them a piece of his mind and find other reindeer with other games.

No, the happy ending comes from finding out his friends can exploit him, so they decide to accept him.  Even love him.  This is actually a good life lesson, but still pretty nasty.

Then there's one of the scariest songs ever written, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town." It's a warning that Santa is always watching. Screw up and you miss out.  Are 364 days of good behavior worth it to get to the one day of presents?  Compare this to Halloween, where you can be creepy and you still get candy. In fact, if they don't give you candy, you can egg their house.

Then there "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year." What makes it so wonderful?  "Everyone telling you be of good cheer."  Now being of good cheer is wonderful.  Creating a atmosphere where you'll be of good cheer is wonderful.  But being told "be of good cheer" is no fun at all, especially when everyone does it.

Later in the song, it's noted one of the thing that happens is people telling "scary ghosts stories." Have they confused Christmas with Halloween?