Jingle all the way: Crash Test Dummies.Crash Test Dummies This article is about a music group. For the mannequins, see Crash test dummy. Crash Test Dummies are a Canadian folk-rock group from Winnipeg, Manitoba, popular in the early 1990s. Jingle All The Way Koch International MOST Christmas albums that are released in. today's secular market are more a case of marketing savvy than a statement of faith in the Incarnate Lord. However, there is something particularly unsettling about Jingle All The Way ..., the new release from the Crash Test Dummies. The reason is simple. Brad Roberts, the band's leader, songwriter, frontman, and only constant in a career that began in Winnipeg in the late 1980s has always been a deep prober with a penchant for obtuse lyrics, dark storylines, and spiritual reflections. However, his artsy ruminations about God did not ever mean that the Christian religion was particularly resonant for him. That has not changed with this album of secular and sacred Christmas standards, and his unique oh-so-deep baritone voice often has a sneering tone that is, quite frankly, a poor fit on Christmas pieces that mean so much to so many people. Be it the flute-carried jazz of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" (or God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen) is a traditional Christmas carol. The tune to which it is generally sung is usually in the key of E minor and is in common time or cut time. , the eastern-tinged read of We Three Kings, or the jig-like treatment of Good King Wenceslas "Good King Wenceslas" is a popular Christmas carol about a king who goes out to give alms to a poor peasant on St. Stephen's Day (December 26), the day after Christmas. In the journey, his page gives up the struggle against the cold weather and is aided by the king who provides the , the musical execution and interpretation is always top flight. However, one cannot shake the notion that Roberts is laughing up his sleeve all the while. Less of a jolt are the secular pieces, though Roberts' attempts to be clever and witty remain. In White Christmas, he does a lounge lizard treatment with some spoken word vocalizing that suggests a poor man's Leonard Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. , and he morphs Jingle Bells into an eastern European minor chord polka The breaths of fresh air are provided by second vocalist Ellen Reid. Her treatments are straighter, be it a pedal steel weeper treatment of O Little Town Of Bethlehem O Little Town of Bethlehem traditional Christmas carol. [Western Culture: “0 Little Town of Bethlehem” in Rockwell, 120–121] See : Christmas and an equally countryish Silent Night on the one hand or a regal treatment of The Little Drummer Boy and a spellbinding spell·bind tr.v. spell·bound , spell·bind·ing, spell·binds To hold under or as if under a spell; enchant or fascinate. [Back-formation from spellbound. version of The Huron Carol on the other. Her tracks are the album's tree highlights. I guess I like my carols a bit reverential rev·er·en·tial adj. 1. Expressing reverence; reverent. 2. Inspiring reverence. rev . As such, the album Jingle All The Way ... is problematic. By so clearly poking fun at the sincere statements of the Christian faith reflected in the carols, Roberts raises questions as to just why he has put this album out as the latest Crash Test Dummies statement. One wonders just who the target audience could possibly be -- other than himself. |
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