It Appears...

[davidschroth]

...that I should have been paying better attention to the lyrics back when I still "sang" Christmas carols.

Once again, mizzlaurajean got an Advent calendar for A. This is what has appeared (so far) in the windows:

Jolly old St. Nicholas,
Lean your ear this way!
Don't you tell a single soul
What I'm going to say.
Christmas Eve is coming soon:
Now, you dear old man,
Whisper what you'll bring to me;
Tell me if you can.
When the clock is striking twelve,
When I'm fast asleep,
Down the chimney, broad and black,
With your pack you'll creep;
All the stockings you will find Hanging in a row;
Mine will be the shortest one;
You'll be sure to know.
Johnny wants a pair of skates;
Susy wants a dolly;
Nelly wants a story book;
She thinks dolls are folly;
As for me, my little brain Isn't very bright;

That last line brought things to a screeching halt this morning, as the window these words were upon opened on a picture of a little girl.

Wikipedia shows different lyrics for the song at this point. The lyrics found elsewhere don't scan all that well, but they're not offensive. I'm guessing we should be more particular about who makes the Advent calendars we purchase in the future.

Comments

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Well, that is the traditional wording. I never thought of the words as offensive, since the song coasts right past that line and into the hyper-manipulative "Choose for me, dear Santa Claus, what you think is right."

Now that you point it out, I can see how stopping to contemplate that line at length could be sort of disturbing. I don't envy the artist who was asked to come up with an appropriate drawing to illustrate that line.

[davidschroth.livejournal.com]

One would think that the traditional wording would show up higher in the search results from Google - I haven't found them yet (although I'm not looking that hard).

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

I had no idea the calendar was song lyrics. But I did think it was an odd one, then we got to the 19th, a picture of a young girl and that single line, at which point I was thinking what the hell is wrong with the person who wrote this and why am I reading this to my little girl. Thankfully I live with a smart man who has a lot of knowledge in his noggin.
Though I still find it rather odd.

The advents calendars are supplied by Babooshka.