Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Fisking "Winter Wonderland"

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight,
We're happy tonight.
Walking in a winter wonderland.
OK, so far, I'm with you. Bells, snow, happiness: Check, check, and check.
Gone away is the bluebird,
Here to stay is a new bird
He sings a love song,
As we go along,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
What do you have against bluebirds? They're a traditional symbol of happiness. So the "love" bird has chased away happiness? That seems rather cynical.
In the meadow we can build a snowman,
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown
He'll say: Are you married?
We'll say: No man,
But you can do the job
When you're in town.
If you're walking through a meadow and a snowman asks if you're married, you should probably knock off the eggnog.
Later on, we'll conspire,
As we dream by the fire
To face unafraid,
The plans that we've made,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
This is so weirdly conspiratorial, I can only assume that you're planning on robbing a bank. I've already notified the authorities.
In the meadow we can build a snowman,
And pretend that he's a circus clown
We'll have lots of fun with mister snowman,
Until the other kids knock him down.
Odd--I don't remember this verse. First of all, this is the second snowman you're building in the course of a fairly short song. Face it: You're stuck in a rut. Second, no one likes clowns. Third, those children need to be punished. Otherwise, this is just a glorification of bullying.
When it snows, ain't it thrilling,
Though your nose gets a chilling
We'll frolic and play, the Eskimo way,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
Ethnic stereotyping: Check. Why don't you just build a third snowman?

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