We wish you a swinging holiday

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Dandelion_Wine

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My daughter attended Catholic grade school for three years and this year we put her into a public school (that’s a whole different topic). But we attended her Christmas, um, I mean Holiday concert yesterday at school. I was simply AMAZED at the way every mention of the word ‘Christmas’ was scrubbed from the concert. It wouldn’t even have bothered me except the last song sung was “We Wish You A Swinging Holiday” sung with all the same words and the tune of We Wish You A Merry Christmas, except of course Merry Christmas became Swinging Holiday. Really?
 
Ugh.

There’s enough non-religious seasonal songs that there’s no reason to go butchering other songs to be PC.

When I was in public school, we sang Christmas songs (including hymns) - and Chanukah songs, and winter songs. Nobody was offended and we lived in a religiously diverse area. I guess that was a while ago though.
 
It probably says a great deal about some of the recent post trends here that when I clicked on the title of the thread, I assumed that the OP’s family Christmas party had just gotten a lot more interesting thanks to some in-law suggesting that nothing would quite ring in the new year like a bit of spouse-swapping… 😉 :eek:
 
Also, it’s generally a good rule of thumb to run most public displays, performances, et all past a teenage boy first. If he sniggers at a particular point, it should probably be edited and/or removed. I can just imagine what the kids were thinking of this concert…
 
I was thinking the same thing. I have a feeling many of the teachers were enjoying the double entendre.
 
Eh, the issue presented in the OP aside, I’m not big on editing because of colloquial uses. With this argument, it would be insane to sing ‘Deck the Halls’, lest someone show in a rainbow speedo.
 
It is sad to watch Christ being removed from Christmas bit by bit. (Mind you we originally put Christ into an existing pagan event to create Christmas). Just out of curiousity I googled the origins of this version and it appears to have been created for a K8 school music curriculum as a platform for swing music ie. the jazzy, shooby dooby type era of music. So that’s what the ‘swingin’ is in reference to. It’s probably a common song in the public schools for Christmas.
 
robertmidwest said:
I was thinking the same thing. I have a feeling many of the teachers were enjoying the double entendre.
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I was also thinking the same thing. But if you bring it up who has the dirty mind? It’s a trap.

I remember a classmate having to sit out our Christmas concert and rehearsals because of her religion. I don’t know how she felt being the only one not participating but I think I wouldn’t hesitate to pull my kid out of participation in that kind of program. Schools have spring concerts that don’t have a any religious theme so if schools want to avoid anything holiday themed, I don’t see why there can’t be a winter concert or recital that still doesn’t mangle tradition holiday songs. Those programs should be fun while being an opportunity for students to be involved in a production like that as part of their education.

My HS alma mater still has religious songs as a part of the holiday choral concert. Not because the teacher is religious but because she wants to expose her students to a variety of music, including classic and traditional music from different cultures to help them grow as singers but as people. Too bad some people don’t get that that is what music is about.
 
You should have pointed out that “holiday” means “Holy Day.”
 
UbiCaritas said:
Also, it’s generally a good rule of thumb to run most public displays, performances, et all past a teenage boy first. If he sniggers at a particular point, it should probably be edited and/or removed. I can just imagine what the kids were thinking of this concert…
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Sadly this would rule out several beautiful old songs. I recall my high school choir had quite some difficulty getting past lyrics about the “ox and ***” without rampant sniggering.
 
When non-believers take the “Christ” out of “Christmas” it is not nearly so bad as when Christmas-adherents take the “Mass” out of Christmas. That happened a LONG time ago in public schools.

There are children in public schools whose families do not celebrate Christmas and not a few of those who do celebrate who have very strong and contradictory opinions about how to observe it. It is OK for the schools to recognize this and stick to things that everyone experiences, like winter.

Perhaps I accept this a little more easily because Oregon is such a secular state. I really do not long for the public schools to get their hands on any of our sacred solemnities. They can do winter and leave the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord to us. I am fine with that.

(Use of the word “swinging” in a grade school song is as acceptable as “don we now our gay apparel.” Anybody who snickers needs to get kicked back down a few grades.)
 
Our public high school choir gets away with singing traditional religious themed music all the time. The teacher’s trick is to have the kids sing in different languages…I love their Latin ones the best 😊 But the Norwegian one was very cool…
 
MomaMary8 said:
Our public high school choir gets away with singing traditional religious themed music all the time. The teacher’s trick is to have the kids sing in different languages…I love their Latin ones the best 😊 But the Norwegian one was very cool…
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That’s a neat idea!

By the time I was in high school, our choir teacher had us sing lots of religious songs for the “winter concert” (or whatever it was called) because they were more beautiful. Even at other times of year, he’d have us sing other traditional Christian music simply for the aesthetics. Secular songs can be fun, but they don’t have the same “richness” to them, if that makes sense.

And he was a Jew.
 
Public schools=Government indoctrination centers. Therefore the push the religion of secularism.😦
 
I’d like to offer an alternate view. I work in a high school and I don’t think that many of my students would be familiar with the slang meaning of “swinging.” They have different terms for it now.

Also people have been changing lyrics to go with these tunes for decades, even centuries. “Jingle Bells” was originally a Thanksgiving song.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingle_Bells

And the original lyrics to the “Deck the Halls” tune were MUCH different (and slightly racy)!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deck_the_Halls

I’m all for educating my kids about the meaning of Christmas and helping them keep it holy, but I consider that my responsibility and not the responsibility of a public school and their winter concert.
 
I really don’t know why the public schools bother with any holiday recognition at all. Wouldn’t it just be easier for them to just cut it cold turkey, rather than have to come up with substitute words (when, ironically, there is nothing wrong with the original)? Hopefully most of these children go to church with their mother and/ or father, have a Christmas tree and a Nativity scene at home. And what will they do if they find this out? Arrest the parents? Expel the child? We’re not far from it, I’m afraid.
 
UbiCaritas said:
It probably says a great deal about some of the recent post trends here that when I clicked on the title of the thread, I assumed that the OP’s family Christmas party had just gotten a lot more interesting thanks to some in-law suggesting that nothing would quite ring in the new year like a bit of spouse-swapping… 😉 :eek:
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Yep, I was worried about the same thing,too!
 
UbiCaritas said:
It probably says a great deal about some of the recent post trends here that when I clicked on the title of the thread, I assumed that the OP’s family Christmas party had just gotten a lot more interesting thanks to some in-law suggesting that nothing would quite ring in the new year like a bit of spouse-swapping… 😉 :eek:
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LOL. I had the same thought!
 
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