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reynardoJust spent a small amount of time and a large amount of disbelief in a Christmas Warehouse, trying to find decorations that don't suck, don't sing, don't have flashing reindeer and don't have an exorbitant price tag. Didn't find a lot. Have, however, found enough over the last little while to make a slight impulse purchase look half reasonable. And it's amazing what you can do with 20kg of cement, an old steel table frame, a tablecloth with silverfish nibbles and five plastic rubbish bags. Oh, and several half-bricks.
But while I was in the Christmas shop, they were playing a popular-songs-of-Christmas CD. I coped with whoever it is sings All I Want For Christmas is You. I could deal with It'll Be Lonely This Christmas Without You at Home (which seems to be by Elvis, although I remember the Mud version myself). But then an Om-pah intro started, and I laughed out loud.
The song was Jona Lewie's Stop the Cavalry, and it's about a young man, dying on the fields of war, missing his lady and wanting the warlords to stop fighting.
The clip had the singer in Confederate coat and carrying a rifle, lying in the mud and the snow in a shallow trench, waiting for the call to charge.
While the setting for the clip looked like the American Civil War, the lyrics were about all wars, and particularly poignant as it was released during Reagan's presidency and not long after Afghanistan and Iran (1981).
According to Wikipedia, the song was never supposed to be a Christmas hit, but due to the line about being home at Christmas, and the German Om-pah beat, it was pushed by the record company execs and made enough money that Jona has been able to live off it since.
I suppose it comes under the same heading as "Merry Christmas (War is Over)", "Born in the USA" and other songs whose meanings have been misinterpreted to be quite different to their lyrics.
And then, stopping war so that people can be together for Christmas is not such a bad idea, really.
But while I was in the Christmas shop, they were playing a popular-songs-of-Christmas CD. I coped with whoever it is sings All I Want For Christmas is You. I could deal with It'll Be Lonely This Christmas Without You at Home (which seems to be by Elvis, although I remember the Mud version myself). But then an Om-pah intro started, and I laughed out loud.
The song was Jona Lewie's Stop the Cavalry, and it's about a young man, dying on the fields of war, missing his lady and wanting the warlords to stop fighting.
Hey, Mr. Churchill comes over here
To say we're doing splendidly.
But it's very cold out here in the snow
Marching to and from the enemy.
Oh I say it's tough, I have had enough,
Can you stop the cavalry?
The clip had the singer in Confederate coat and carrying a rifle, lying in the mud and the snow in a shallow trench, waiting for the call to charge.
I have had to fight almost every night,
Down throughout these centuries.
That is when I say, oh yes yet again,
Can you stop the cavalry?
Mary Bradley waits at home,
In the nuclear fallout zone.
Wish I could be dancing now,
In the arms of the girl I love.
Wish I was at home for Christmas.
While the setting for the clip looked like the American Civil War, the lyrics were about all wars, and particularly poignant as it was released during Reagan's presidency and not long after Afghanistan and Iran (1981).
Bang goes another bomb on another town
While the Czar and Jim have tea.
If I get home, live to tell the tale,
I'll run for all presidencies.
If I get elected I'll stop
I will stop the cavalry.
Wish I was at home for Christmas.
According to Wikipedia, the song was never supposed to be a Christmas hit, but due to the line about being home at Christmas, and the German Om-pah beat, it was pushed by the record company execs and made enough money that Jona has been able to live off it since.
Wish I could be dancing now,
In the arms of the girl I love.
Mary Bradley waits at home,
She's been waiting two years long.
Wish I was at home for Christmas.
I suppose it comes under the same heading as "Merry Christmas (War is Over)", "Born in the USA" and other songs whose meanings have been misinterpreted to be quite different to their lyrics.
And then, stopping war so that people can be together for Christmas is not such a bad idea, really.
