Part of this, I guess, is that the older carols that have survived this long are the ones that just have really good melodies. More recent ones haven't really gone through the serious winnowing process yet. I decided this during aerobics class this morning, where our instructor again put on the tape that she'd started playing last week. Before hearing the tape, I might have thought I wouldn't like Christmas music put to electronic dance beats. But somehow the beauty in The First Noel and Away in a Manger still shines through. There were some twentieth-century songs in the mix, but they just were not anything very interesting. That's all.

I have to say, the treatment didn't serve every single song well. Changing We Wish You A Merry Christmas into 4/4 from 6/8 time (?) to fit the dance beat, dragging out certain notes that ought not be dragged, mangled it unacceptably. And Silent Night just does not belong outside any arrangement other than a cappella or maybe a few acoustic instruments.

But who can resist smiling, nay grinning (not to say giggling) at an electronic dance beat version of Kum-Ba-Ya? Certainly not me.

contents of the purple tricycle are copyright 2003 carrie lynn king unless otherwise noted.