The Little Drummer Boy

I don’t know about you but I enjoy being bombarded by Christmas carols everywhere I go.  These tunes bring back very happy memories of childhood. One of my favorites is the song of The Little Drummer Boy. Like many other songs I fell in love with the melody first. I never really understood what the story was about until I read an article of a puppeteer in an old McCalls magazine (remember them?). I became fascinated by marionettes (not hand puppets but string puppets) and I researched how to make them. I was only in my elementary years so carving wooden puppets was beyond my pay grade. I was further inspired by the puppetry in the classic movie The Sound of Music (ie. The Lonely Goatherd). I did try to make a wooden one but was frustrated because I had no sculpting tools. Then I found a book that showed me how to make marionettes out of cloth … essentially, they were rag dolls turned into puppets. I begged my Mom to teach me how to sew and by summer time I became an expert sewer. I popped out the heads of my GI Joe action figure and the heads of my sister’s Barbie dolls to have more realistic faces. I collected carton boxes and converted them into backdrops.  I produced, set designed, light designed and directed my siblings to my first puppet show. My most ambitious show was the Broadway musical Camelot — where we played the movie recording and acted out the different songs in the movie. To this day, the craft is still in me because I still know how to sew and build these puppets. Indeed, every “pum pa rum pum” channels my thoughts to Christmas with my siblings and puppets.

Thanks to Katherine Davis who wrote that song in 1941. Thanks to the woman puppeteer in McCalls who inspired my love for the performing arts. And thanks to my family who put up with me and gave me a wonderful Christmas childhood.

Where does your imagination bring you when you hear Christmas Carols? Tell me your story. I’d love to hear it.

TGIF people!

Joke of the Week

Thanks to Peter Paul of S Pasadena, CA for sharing this joke.

Rodney’s Puns

Sent by Rodney of Manitoba, B.C.

Funny Video

Christmas Parrot

Sent by Mike of New York

Parting Shot

Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C. who shared this:

Thanks to Naomi of North Hollywood, CA who shared this:

The post Ancient Christmas Manuscript appeared first on Traveling Archive.

I don’t know about you but I’ve found myself in a Christmas party predicament quite a few times. The folks are huddled together with the air of holiday cheers and then someone blurts this challenging proposal: “Why don’t we sing a Christmas carol?” And everyone looks at you because they know you play the guitar. They hand you the house guitar and believe holding this instrument of beauty (or shameful death) would magically move your fingers to the proper chords.

Sounds familiar? We, at Traveling Boy, feel your pain and anxiety and we have decided that we’d provide this public service. Below are a bunch of Christmas jingles that begin with the key of A minor and you can easily dial it up (go to Travelingboy.com and search for ‘carol’) on your smart phone to guide you through your musical duties.

You can skip to the end whenever you think they’ve had enough. These are the songs in this arrangement:

O Come O Come Emmanuel
Humble Yourself in the sight of the Lord
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Do You see what I see?

This arrangement was posted by Raoul Pascual to fit your iPhone.
Blame it all on him!

O COME O COME EMMANUEL

Intro:  Am – G – F – E

Am                                Dm  Em  Am
O come, O come, Em-man-u-el
C                            Dm   Em   Am
And ransom captive   I——s—rael
Dm                          FM7    G
That mourns in lonely ex–ile here
C                       Dm  G   Am
Un-til the Son of God   a-ppear

CHORUS
      CM7         Am            Dm7 Em  FM7
Re-joice! Re-joice! Em-man-u-     el 
          FM7        Dm7        G F Em   Am
Shall come to thee, O     Is– ra-    el.

Verse 2
O come, Thou Rod of Je-sse, free
Thine own from Satan’s ty–ranny
From depths of Hell Thy peo-ple save
And give them victory o’er the grave

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine ad-vent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to mi–sery.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times did’st gi-ve the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.

HUMBLE YOURSELF

Am
Humble yourself in the
G                    Am
sight of the Lord (2x)
       Dm7      G         Am
For He will lift you up   (higher and higher)
FM7      G           Am
and He will lift you up.

GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN

Intro: Am – G (2x)

Am               G        Dm7       FM7
God rest you   merry gentlemen
Dm7        G   E
let nothing you dismay
          Am           G                Dm7  FM7
Remember     Christ our Sa-      vior
       Dm7       G               E
was born on Christmas day

Dm7         G       C   E7
To save us all from Satan’s pow’r
FM7      Em7    Dm7
though we have gone astray.
C         FM7   G        Am
Oh tidings of com-fort  and   joy
G
Comfort and joy.
C  G       FM7     Em   Am
Oh tidings of comfort and  joy.

In Bethlehem, in Israel
This blessed Babe was born
And laid within a manger
Upon this blessed morn
The which His Mother Mary
Did nothing take in scorn
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
Fear not then, said the Angel
Let nothing you a-fright
This day is born a Savior
Of a pure Virgin bright
To free all those who trust in Him
From Satan’s pow’r and might
Oh tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Oh tidings of comfort and joy

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?

Intro:               A   (G)Asus  A

A                            G     A
Said the night wind to the little lamb
E            D  A
Do you see what I  see?
A                               G        A
Way up in the sky little lamb
E            D  A
Do you see what I  see?
F#m      C#m   E                      F#m
A star,       a star, dancing in the night
DM7     E       F#7
With a tail as big as a kite
DM7    Bm   E      A     G  A
With a tail as   big   as a kite

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy
Do you hear what I  hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy
Do you hear what I  hear?
A song, a song, high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king
Do you know what I  know?
In your palace warm, mighty king
Do you know what I  know?
A Child, a Child, Shivers in the cold
Let us bring Him silver and gold
Let us bring Him silver and gold

Said the king to the people every-where
Listen to what I  say!
Pray for peace, people every-where
Listen to what I  say!
The Child, the Child,
sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light

The post Christmas Medley in A Minor appeared first on Traveling Archive.