David Federman has assembled another of his fascinating posts for us, themed to the season. This one is called Holiday Express, Part 2. (See this post for the first installment.) Here are David's notes:
I am sending this on Black Friday for quickest recovery from the malestrom of mall music and materialism. The second in a series of three escapist vintage holiday medleys, this "Holiday Express" tells a tale still told but truer to its humbler early and mid 20th century observances. It took a lot of savings to afford a diamond ring when my parents fell in love.
Here I imagine Christmas as an intimate twosome between lovers who personalize Christmas Eve into an intimate birth of love. One partner arrives after a long train trip and fast cab ride to give a diamond ring to the other. Whether the gem is natural or synthetic dodesn’t matter. Either way, the pledge of permanence is real. Don’t feel left out if this is more of an anniversary or an evening spent alone. This music can also serve for those whose Chirstmas Eves will be more hermetic and insular - an homage to love's longevity where rings are as much symbols of remembrance as physical objects. The idea here is to transport you back to vastly more sedate and honorably sentimental times when Christmas was for companionship and reflection. You will be at all times safe from the fall of darkness and reach of shadows from Black Friday. Alas, this medley leaves a strong carbon footprint as fireplaces burn throughout. To quote Frank Loesser, I want you to feel "warm all over."
Although a few songs mention Christmas by name or reference to iconic activity associated with the occasion (such as kissing under the mistletoe), this is more about the winter's first and most important holiday as celebrated in times preceding climate change. So it's steeped in suitably vintage winter music. (You haven't lived until you hear Hawaiian guitar virtuoso Roy Smeck play "Winter Wonderland.") Indeed, it ends on a note of nocturnal sublimity as the world is enveloped in sleep, snow and silence. Enjoy. I hope ‘yule’ be glad you listened.
A third Holiday Express will leave Christmas day for a more raucous New Year's filled with public cheer and festivity. But I promise no red-wine headaches - just a lot of sing-alongs, toasts and dancing.
Download the songs now and save them for whenever you feel like listening to it. There are 34 - but I know you have enough computer storage somehwere to keep it for playback at the right moment.
I have prepared this mix as an annual good will gesture for my favorite blog, Big 10-Inch Record. It will not be posted on either Twitter or Facebook. It's just for Buster at 10-Inch and also the usual suspects, most of whom are paid subscribers to my Substack blog. I believe in time travel as salve and salvage. If you do too, hop aboard this Holiday Express where then is now - and now is always.