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Rod & Kubby. Photo by Bob Gentry, ©2002 by Stanyan Entertainment Group.

A Thought for Today

Don’t be too quick to question everything. There are wild roses that have bloomed far into December seemingly without reason.

 

About today’s download

In Great Britain "The Day After Christmas" is sometimes referred to as “The Boxing Day Carol". I recorded it in the fall of 1970 at Olympic Studios in London. It was arranged & conducted by Arthur Greenslade & features The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It was released the following year as part of the album “New Carols for Christmas.”

With its double bridge and non-optional tag line The Day After Christmas clocks in at 57 bars making it something of an odd bird in the 32 bar pop song category. I’ve performed all the other songs that make up New Carols for Christmas frequently over the years but until this download The Day After Christmas existed only within the confines of the album. I meant it to have a kind of conversational flow. Unlike most Christmas songs it doesn’t benefit from an instrumental interlude or a lyric reprise.

It was chosen for download today & encoded to MP3 by Eric Yeager.

The Day After Christmas
Words & Music by Rod McKuen


As you untie your packages
and drink a cup of good cheer
think how it’s gonna be for us
this time again next year.

We’ll pack the ornaments together
after the tree comes down
and on The Day After Christmas
whatever be the weather
we’ll both go driving into town.

When all the families are sleeping
and you're alone in your room
remember how it was last November
think how it’s gonna be soon.

No use in my pretending
that I like being far away
but on The Day After Christmas
I’ll make a happy ending
and bring you home another holiday.

And we’ll smile like tinsel on a tree
and I’ll collect all the promises
you’ve put away for me.

I hear the caroler’s singing
songs of the years gone by
and it’s enough to start the children laughing
and make a lonesome man cry.

Hold on a little while longer
remember what I said
on The Day After Christmas
when I’ve lost the will to wander
I’ll tuck you in your feather bed.

On The Day After Christmas
I’ll be coming home forever
till then remember what I said.

Merry Christmas.

-from the book, album & songbook New Carols for Christmas, 1971. © 1969, 1971 by Rod McKuen & Stanyan Music Group. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the 3rd of The Twelve Downloads of Christmas. It’s a new song I wrote earlier this year with Bob Gentry. Sleep warm.

RM 12/25/2002 11:38 PM PST

Click on the link below to start your download:

THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

For PC users 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....".

Mac users should click and hold for menu options, then select the save option. A Mac alternative is to hold down the option button and click the link to download and save.

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notable birthdays

KWANZAA BEGINS
BOXING DAY (CANADA/UK)

Steve Allen o Charles Babbage o Helen Brann o George Dewey o Carlton Fisk o Thomas Gray o Joyce Jillson o Alan King o Jared Leto o Doris Lilly o Henry Miller o Donald Moffat o Ozzie Smith o Phil Spector o Mao Tse-tung o Lars Ulrich o Maurice Utrillo o Tahnee Welch o Richard Widmark o Rosemary Woods

Rod's random thoughts All of life is instruction.

Kindness is the link between earth and heaven.

Accuse me of loving too much, never too little.

SNOWFLAKES IN THE WINE
(a prose poem)

It rained today, all day
everything was the sound of rain.

Children laughing in the streets
                          police whistles
cars splashing mud at one another
even the music on the radio
sounded like the rain.

Tonight the storm is nearly over.

I walked down by the railway station
to watch the trains come in
and not once was I asked the time
nor did a stranger stop and want a light.

Sometimes on rainy nights
I forgot I’m in a foreign country.

It’s about twelve-thirty now.
Most everyone has gone to bed.
Something is pushing me,
                    making me think.

I miss you.

-from the album “Winter,” 1972

 
© 1969, 1971, 1972, 1990, 2002 by Stanyan Music Group & Rod McKuen. All Rights Reserved
Birthday research by Wade Alexander o Poetry from the collection of Jay Hagan o Coordinated by Melinda Smith o Sound & Fury Dr. Eric Yeager o Webmaster Ken Blackie
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