How Idaho Christmas Radio Music Can Drive You to Drink

This week I wrote about Idaho’s favorite Christmas song. My opinion was that the people of the Gem State show good taste. Then there are the songs on the short playlists of your local Christmas station! I’m biting the hand that feeds me, but some of the toons encourage me to play Russian roulette.

One song that comes to mind that I find annoying is Dominick the Donkey. A friend with Italian ancestry told me it’s among his favorites. He also likes the Philadelphia Eagles. Enough said.

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer is another. My grandmothers were wonderful women, and tunes about old ladies getting trampled alarm me. Someone told me the song is about Grandma getting stewed on Christmas Eve. My grandmothers both never touched a drop.

The ancient Spike Jones story about the little boy in need of some bridge work is also another that makes me want to beat my head against a solid wall.

While there are many more, the song about the kid looking to buy a pair of shoes, so his mom can wear them in her casket, really destroys the joy of the season. A woman here

at work likes that one. When she worked in the front office, I discovered how short our audience-tested playlist was. She would crank the KOOL and listen all day.

If I have a favorite all-time Christmas composition, it’s the one made famous by a simple priest working to put something together on short notice. His work and his faith brought us Silent Night. Now that’s music.