“A Holly Jolly Christmas” by Burl Ives
These days, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and all, Christmas just ain’t what it used to be. But perhaps that reality of being denied certain material pleasures will cause some of us to harp back on the foundations upon which the holiday is based.
For instance, take any Christmas classic into consideration – It’s a Wonderful Life, Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer or, if you really want to go there, Die Hard even. At the end of the day, none of these movies are about giving gifts and commercialism. Rather, at least ideologically, the Christmas season is supposed to represent something more noble, i.e. it being “the best time of the year”. Or as some people would explain it, even if you’re pissed throughout all 11 months and half of December, once Christmas comes around you need to chill out, put on a happy face and enjoy the time with your loved ones.
“A Holly Jolly Christmas”
And those are fundamentally the ideas upon which this song is based. The vocalist is imploring the audience at large to “have a holly jolly Christmas” – or more simply put enjoy the holiday season.
And again, even though the lyrics don’t really go there per se, the implication is that some conscientious effort must be dedicated to achieving this goal. So for instance, not only should you “say hello to friends” but also “everyone you meet”. Yes, it may not necessarily be chic to go around greeting strangers and friends alike – but after all, it is Christmas.
And the only reference to family, if you will, featured therein is when the singer also admonishes presumably male listeners in particular to use the opportunity to get close to that special someone.
But Burl means more in the amorous sense since he references “the mistletoe”, a plant traditionally used during the holiday season as a means to kiss someone. However, even though Ives uses a female pronoun to describe the person receiving this kiss, it is also possible that he isn’t referring to a romantic interest at all but rather your mom for instance.
All in All
All things considered, even though the song itself isn’t anywhere near adult-oriented, this reads more like a romantic inference than anything else. So it’s like being with your shorty makes the holiday season more “holly jolly”. And just as a side note, since this is the real world that we live in, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to cop a gift for her also.
But again, we know what Burl is getting at. And that would be that true Christmas isn’t about external gifts but rather an internal, joyous disposition. So it’s like if you can’t enjoy the Christmas season, there’s probably no part of the year that makes you happy.
Burl Ives
Burl Ives (1909-1995) was a singer from the early 20th century and as such got his start on radio in the more traditional sense, i.e. back in the days before people really had TVs. But he went on to have a notable on-screen presence also.
Furthermore, he is someone whose voice many of us know, even if we never heard of him directly. That is to say that his is the voice of Sam the Snowman, i.e. the narrator of the animated Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer (1964) holiday special that pops up on TV every Christmas season.
And as fate would have it, Ives’ career was heavily associated with the Christmas holiday.
Facts about “A Holly Jolly Christmas”
Part of Burl’s aforementioned reputation was also acquired via works like this very song (“A Holly Jolly Christmas”).
Decca Records released “A Holly Jolly Christmas” during October of 1965.
This is the title track to an album which itself is entitled “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas”. And it was written by the late Johnny Marks. Johnny is another musician who was apparently even more associated with Christmas than Burl Ives.
In fact Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, as anyone who has ever seen the program can attest to, has its own theme song. That piece was also written by Johnny Marks. And in fact both songs are featured on the animated special as well as the aforementioned album, though in the latter case they are re-recordings, not the originals.
Lady Antebellum covered this track in 2012. And so did Faith Hill in 2008.
As far as Burl Ives’ “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” goes, it did in fact appear on the Billboard Hot 100. Here, it peaked at an impressive number 4 – in 2020. This was 55 years after its release.
In fact during the week of 4 January 2020, while Burl Ives was holding down fourth place on the Hot 100, in fifth place was Post Malone with “Circles“.
