Beyond the Byline: Rock around your Christmas tree

Back in the day, Christmas celebrations were filled with all sorts of good tidings — great food, fun people, spectacular decorations to name just a few.

And at some point during a house filled with company, somebody’s aunt or uncle would shout, “Let’s sing some Christmas carols.”

And so we did.

Usually, we would put on those old 78 rpm vinyl records and turn up the volume so we wouldn’t have to hear the off-key sounds coming from the voices of our family and friends.

But it was fun.

We would sing the traditional songs, like “Silent Night” and “Oh Holy Night,” “Away in a Manger,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “Jingle Bells,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” “Joy To the World,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “We Three Kings,” “The First Noel,” “Silver Bells,” “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” and “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas.”

Like I said, it was fun, but we weren’t going to record them for an album.

And there was one other song that would often be repeated during the night — Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Brenda was just 13 when she recorded that classic song in 1958.

And now, 65 years later, Brenda’s song is topping the record charts and playlists in 2023.

Good for her. So well-deserved

Ok, here are the lyrics. Now sing them out loud and start dancing

Check out the lyrics for this Christmas classic below.

• Written by: Johnny Marks

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

At the Christmas party hop

Mistletoe hung where you can see

Every couple tries to stop

•

Rockin’ around the Christmas tree

Let the Christmas spirit ring

Later we’ll have some pumpkin pie

And we’ll do some caroling

•

You will get a sentimental feeling when you hear

Voices singing, let’s be jolly

Deck the halls with boughs of holly

•

Rockin’ around the Christmas tree

Have a happy holiday

Everyone dancin’ merrily

In the new old-fashioned way

•

Oh you will get a sentimental feeling when you hear

Voices singing, let’s be jolly

Deck the halls with boughs of holly

•

Rockin’ around the Christmas tree

Have a happy holiday

Everyone dancin’ merrily

In the new old-fashioned way.”

•

It’s so easy to hear the music as you sing it. There’s even a short saxophone solo in there somewhere.

Whenever that song came on the record player, everybody started singing and dancing. It’s an infectious song, for sure.

The point is this was real fun. Real holiday celebrating. Families and friends would forget about their troubles and they would get happy. These songs — especially Brenda Lee’s classic — were there every year to sing along to and enjoy.

Bing Crosby sang, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” and Nat King Cole had “The Christmas Song,” but Brenda Lee had the song that got people happy.

Sure, it would be nice if Bing got his snow to fall on Christmas Eve and Nat had us roasting chestnuts on an open fire, but Brenda got us singing and dancing.

I can hop in the Way Back Machine and head back to the late 1950s or early 1960s and see those gatherings in our house and our friends’ and families’ houses.

Each home was decorated with a real tree on a platform with a Lionel train underneath and a Plasticville village of a little small town. Beautifully wrapped presents were stacked around, waiting for the recipients to arrive. The aroma of home cooking and baking filled the air.

The table was set and a turkey and/or a ham were baking. Apple pies were warming above the stove.

Uncle Joe and Aunt Betty would arrive. Uncle Joe always wore a Christmas tree tie that lit up and Aunt Betty had a two-pound Whitman Sampler tucked under her arm. Uncle Jim would always offer me a bet quarter and Aunt Thelma brought her Welsh cookies. Uncle John and Aunt Barbara had poppyseed and nutroll. Those were served with the fresh and smoked kielbasa that mom and dad and I made at out kitchen table. I always got to grate the horseradish root.

The kids would gather in another room, and we would tell each other what we were hoping that Santa would bring us. We knew we would get a lot, never too much. We just couldn’t wait to eat our dinners, sing those songs and clear out so we could get to bed early and wait for Santa to arrive.

This was what the holidays were like back then.

And we always went to church. Of course, we couldn’t wait to get back home to enjoy our Christmas gifts.

And even as I’m writing this, it seems so selfish, but we were kids. We didn’t know that our parents also did things to help those less fortunate. We found this out years later.

And it’s important even more today to do what we can to help out — to give back to our community.

Do what you can to help bring Christmas to those in need.

You will enjoy rockin’ around your Christmas tree a whole lot more.