13 Replies to “Jukebox: Because it’s getting to be that time…”

  1. Re the Christmas Truce:
    Someone tried it again in 1915, standing up in front of the lines to wish everyone well.
    He was immediately shot dead – from both sides.

    1. I am not sure what the source is that story about Christmas 1915, though it no doubt has a footnote attached. According to many accounts, the higher-ups were not pleased with the 1914 truce, and discouraged any attempts to repeat it- however some small-scale truces still occurred in 1915. By 1916, orders were completely being followed.

      Here is the Wikipedia account, which of course is not scholarly:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce

      Perhaps you are referring to the upcoming 2014 Christmas Truce, in which no one will remember what they are supposed to do or indeed in which country they are in for a few hours: but probably will shoot anyway-)

      One thing is sure- there is nothing in the US Constitution that mentions it …..

      I guess another Seeger Christmas song is in order:
      Carol of the Beasts
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01XPchB9Lw

      1. I came across the tale of the 1915 non-truce via novelist John Masters. He was a British officer (Indian Army) whose family served in The Great War and he related that one of his uncles witnessed the event. Several units of the Indian Army also served in the war and the circumstances seem to have been widely known among all the troops.

  2. I don’t know how many people know that 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the Christmas Truce of 1914, when the Allied and German forces stopped fighting, laid down their weapons and met on the battlefield to share cigarettes, exchange souvenirs and enjoy a brief respite from that horrible, bloody conflict. Here is a link that explains it better than I can:

    http://youtu.be/p05E_ohaQGk

    On the musical side, let’s let the immortal John Lennon give his perspective:

    http://youtu.be/z8Vfp48laS8

  3.  
     
    For those unready(“Didn’t we just have Thanksgiving? – or did that happen at all this year?”)

    a run up from Paul Simon: Getting Ready for Christmas Day
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a-JiNPcXjQ
     


     
    Two very different versions of
    “The Holly and the Ivy”
    which I love (and repeat-post)

    outside: Mediaeval Baebes

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7Oik2yl6wE
    (h/t Steve Hynd:-) )
    and

    inside: Steeleye Span
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJpHFGpYdoo

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