|
Christmas Eve 2001: Photo by Edward McKuen.
©2001 Stanyan Entertainment Group
A Thought for Today
Celebrate His birthday with love.
Good morning and Happy
Christmas. I hope Santa was as sweet last night and this morning to you as
I’m sure you were to each other all year long. As Jerry Herman’s Mame so
aptly put it “We need a little Christmas, right this very minute!”
Never has a nation and a world deserved the peace and hope that this
holiday represents more than this very year and this very minute.
The past twelve months haven’t been the best for any of us but I’m sure
that our individual troubles pale compared to the fix the world at large
currently finds itself. I know mine do.
I’m trying very hard to concentrate on the plus side and you certainly top
the list in that department. So many of you have been with me for years,
shared your joys and sorrows with me and applauded and commiserated with
me regarding mine. And, I’m just as grateful for the new friends I’ve made
and am making every day for pausing a while and giving a nod to what I’m
trying to with my life. Thanks to all of you I never feel alone.
We’re all in this little life together and since none of us will get out
of it alive I for one am thrilled to be sharing space with you on our
mutual journey.
But what to get you for Christmas? I’ve puzzled over that one a lot
because you’re not easy to please and of course I wouldn’t want it any
other way. A couple of weeks ago Eric Yeager sent me a letter suggesting
that I might make available as downloads a couple of the MP3’s he created
for me. That’s a thought, I thought, but didn’t do anything about it. Then
a note from Ken last week, “My Christmas spirit hasn’t kicked in yet and
I’m sure yours is lagging but we ought to start thinking about what we’re
going to do for ‘the troops’ for Christmas." Indeed you are the troops and
Webmaster Ken the very capable general.
THE TWELVE DOWNLOADS OF CHRISTMAS
By George I think I’ve got it.
Today begins the 12 days of Christmas and so from now till Epiphany you’ll
find a different MP3 to download every day. The tracks are from all over
the place and will deal with a wide range of subjects – hey, with 200 plus
albums released and half again as many projected or in the can I’ve got
plenty to choose from. And, thanks to Eric, who has officially joined our
little band of merry makers (Melinda, Jay, Wade, Ken & yours truly) from
this day forward a new toy has been added to our playhouse. Rod’s Juke Box
will keep all the downloads available from now, until . . .and more will
be added every month.
This is a collaborative gift. Eric converted all the tracks to the MP3
format and did the uploading. Long ago Wade helped choose the songs for
another project, Jay typed out all the lyrics to each song and Melinda’s
gift of our mirror website <rodmckuen.com>
gives us the added storage capacity to not only continue improving this
site but opens the possibility for many mega biting files.
Webmaster Ken is also the puppet master for this whole affair, supervising
and posting everything to the last detail. Here we go.
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, “Simple Gifts” for
under the tree.
THE STORY BEHIND SIMPLE GIFTS
I wrote “Simple Gifts” for my
mother when we were both living on the corner of Gardner and Fountain in
Los Angeles. The year was 1965. Both Glenn Yarbrough and I made demos of
it for my then partner in publishing, David Hubert. The song has nothing
to do with the Shaker Hymn of the same title but I’ve heard folk singers
do them together as a medley.
This recording is taken from the LP & CD “New Carols for Christmas.”
Recorded September, 1971 at Phillips Studios, London. Arranged and
conducted by Arthur Greenslade
THE WORDS
Simple Gifts
Though the gift be small and simple
if the wish is wide
just the simple gift of giving
makes you warm inside.
Though the thought is ever fleeting
if a thought at all
remember all the mighty big things
started out as small.
So if you’ve a gift worth giving
let it be your smile
let it be a kindly word
that makes a stranger stop awhile.
Let it be a simple gift then
if the wish is wide
just the simple gift of giving
makes you warm inside.
Words & music by Rod McKuen
© 1965 by Stanyan Music & Rod McKuen
CLICK HERE TO COMMENCE DOWNLOAD
OF SIMPLE
GIFTS
(A simple left-click on the
above link should start the download automatically. If you're having
problems, try right-clicking on the link and select "save target as".)
Join Ken tomorrow to celebrate Boxing Day (easy for him to do since he’s
located in the hemisphere where everyone is currently wearing shorts
anyway.) Kwanza starts tomorrow too and I’ll be here with another song for
downloading. Again, Happy Holidays and sleep warm.
RM 12/22/2001 Previously
unpublished
|
