A Cold Winter Day

It’s the return of our on-going 77 Santas projects! Here are numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7. Only 70 more drawings to go! Some of you might think it’s cute that my son drew these pictures. Those people would feel like silly fools however once they learned that the crude drawings are in fact done by yours truly. You’d feel even worse knowing that I shoot blanks and can’t have children, but then feel awkward when I confess that I made that last part up.

So it seems we’ve solved file-sharing problems. Hopefully the new way is working for everyone. But if you can’t get anything, leave a comment. We will at first curse at our ineptitude, then weep over the hopelessness of our efforts, but eventually we’ll muster the courage to confront life’s problems.

The Man with All the Toys – The Beach Boys

This comes from a seminal album here at 77 Santas, and this is one of my favorite tracks. The harmonies on this, as with most Beach Boys material from this era, are fantastic. It’s short, fast, and perfect.

Santa Looked A lot Like Daddy – Buck Owens

No one sings this like the late, great Buck Owens—does it get any better than when Buck says “down the chimney”? I don’t think so. And there’s nothing sexier than role-playing at Christmastime.

Up On the House Top – Gene Autry

I remember singing this in elementary school, when the entire school had an assembly for Christmastime. One section would sing, “Ho, ho, ho” and the rest would take the chorus. Since my last name ends in a V, I usually sat next to Jennifer Wagner, who smelled as though her father routinely spilled kerosene from their heater on her clothes.

Cold Winter Day – Blind Willie McTell

This isn’t a seasonal tune, but it’s bone-achingly cold here in Virginia tonight. A gray flannel sky clung to the ground, and it felt that snow could fall any moment. Unfortunately, nothing white just yet. Blind Willie McTell knows all about cold winter days—it was the freezing cold that claimed his sight. He vowed revenge against Old Man Winter to his dying day.