25 Days of Jessmas Day 9: Kentucky & Louisiana

On the 9th day of Jessmas, my Google-Fu sang to me:


Kentucky:


"Christmas in Kentucky" by: Steven Curtis Chapman

I didn't care for this song.  It sounds too generic and like every other Christian pop song I've ever heard.  The lyrics are also kind of weird.  The chorus mentions that it's Christmas in Kentucky, but it doesn't really sing about Christmas in Kentucky.  Again, just generic lyrics about God's love and that it's Christmas all over the world and blah blah blah.  The music itself is really nice and the children chorus near the end is pretty, but I'm not a fan of the song as a whole.

1.5 out of 5 Kentucky Bourbons

"Kentucky Homemade Christmas" by: Kenny Rogers

It's amazing how a song so upbeat and classic country could be so depressing.  When a song opens with "They shut down the min last summer / we're gettin' by on welfare / it's Christmas Eve I'm walking home / not a dollar to my name."  You know you're in for a real treat.
I want to think that the song is meant to be uplifting since they still have Christmas in their home, it's just not store-bought, it's homemade.  However, towards the end of the song he sings about how he'd "damn near rob a bank" to be able to buy his kids the one present they each want.
Once again, this song sings about feelings and the grimness that is a reality for many people, but I just don't like it in my Christmas music.

3 out of 5 Gambling Kenny Rogers

"No Christmas in Kentucky" by: Phil Ochs

And I didn't think it could get more grim than the previous song.  At least "Kentucky Homemade Christmas" still spoke of handmade heartfelt gifts and family.  But this song is bitter as hell about being poor in Kentucky at Christmas.  "For the trees don't twinkle when you're hungry / and the jingle bells don't jingle when you're poor."  Yikes.  Talk about a downer of a Christmas song.  Yet again, I realize he is singing about a very real often forgotten segment of the population, but damn.


1 out of 5 Coal Mines

Louisiana:

"Louisiana Christmas Day" by: Aaron Neville

This song sounds sort of like polka meets country meets Jazz and, at times, sounds like something Weird Al would write.  It was a little strange because I've only ever heard Aaron Neville sing R&B. But it is definitely a groovin tune. I don't have much to say about it other than it's a fun upbeat Christmas song to dance to.  A welcome antidote to the downer songs from Kentucky.

4 out of 5 Christmas Fleur de Lis

"Christmas in New Orleans" by Louis Armstrong

Classic big band jazz and Louis Armstrong singing about New Orleans landmarks and sights at Christmastime.  I don't know what more you need in a song.  

4 out of 5 French Quarters (Peace Y'all!)

"Christmas on the Bayou" by Vin Bruce

Now here we have some old school Bayou country music.  Guitar, steel guitar, fiddle and what sounds like some good ol' Louisiana Creole or Cajun French dialect that I, with my 5 years of (Parisian) French classes, had trouble deciphering.
This is an upbeat little ditty, and if you speak/understand more Louisiana French than I do, you'll probably quite enjoy this song.

3 out of 5 Bayou Santas

"12 Yats of Christmas" by: Benny Grunch and The Bunch

I questioned whether or not to include this song, only because I truly cannot listen to the entire thing.  This is a song I've heard many time before at Boyfriend's brother's house, as Boyfriend's sister-in-law grew up in Louisiana and thinks this song is hilarious.  Apparently, it is a New Orleans Christmas classic.  Listen at your own risk.

1 out of 5 Bourbon Streets

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