3 Chords & the Truth: Have yourself a merry little Christmas

The older I get, the more the lyrics to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" speak to me -- get to me.

And, in a not-always-visible-from space manner, they guide your Mighty Favog in putting together A 3 Chords & the Truth Christmas each year. Don't make me count up how many Christmases that's been now.

Given all this country's recent travails, the line "Next year all our troubles will be out of sight" seems, to me, grossly overly optimistic. On the other hand, they could be. But still . . . you never know.

SO, AT THIS TIME of the year, one holds onto hope. It's a terrible thing to live without hope.

I won't belabor the point. It's time to listen to the music, and give in to the hope that "Next year all our troubles, will be out of sight." Merry Christmas from the Big Show.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
Next year all our troubles will be out of sight

 

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yuletide gay
Next year all our troubles will be miles away

 

Once again, as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Will be near to us once more

 

Someday soon we all will be together
If the fates allow
Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now

 

3 Chords & the Truth: Bleak midwinter

It's gray. It's raining. It's December, and Christmas is nigh.

The rain, in these parts, actually is something of a holiday treat. Drought, don't you know? The gray and the chill and the nights that begin in the afternoon, that's just midwinter in the upper Midwest.

This time of year, you have to make your own light. You have to add color to the world by whatever means necessary. In the case of 3 Chords & the Truth, that would be through playing the best music anywhere.

This week, like every week here in the studio, is no exception.

I've got the tunes; I've got my Community coffee shipped from South Louisiana, and that's all anybody needs to keep the gray -- and the December chill -- at bay.

IF I TRY hard enough, I can smell the big blue spruce tree of my childhood Christmastimes. That's not nothing -- these days, our household trees run toward the plastic and metal. "Trees" is not a typographical error. If one tree is good, two are better.

This year, a new wrinkle on the fake-tree front: fixing a loose branch with electrical tape and a bit of faux-fir camouflage. I don't recall ever fixing a real evergreen, so chalk up an advantage for artificiality.

Anyway, as we continue the run-up to the Big Show's big Christmas show next week, we have a mix of all the great music you normally hear, plus some holiday classics, plus some yuletide tunes that might not be so familiar to you. You'd expect no less from this program, right?

Ring those Christmas bells, then settle down in a comfortable chair with your favorite hot beverage for another full-fledged musical experience.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Sundown serenade

In my mind's eye, I've always seen 3 Chords & the Truth as something best listened to in the dead of night, in a room dimly lit by the dial of an old radio.

Just as good, I think, would be listening to the Big Show with your smartphone (or whatever) playing through a classic piece of audio gear, the room lit just by the glowing face of a 1960s or '70s stereo receiver. I am a hi-fi nerd, so I'm funny that way.

Still, I think that concept resonates with Baby Boomers like myself, who spent many a night listening to the radio in our rooms -- or attached to the earphone of a transistor radio hidden under the covers -- instead of sleeping like our parents demanded.

Who needs dream time when you have far-away voices and all your favorite music drifting through the sky and into your head?

THAT'S THE VISION in my aging mind's eye, the vision I've always had for 3 Chords & the Truth. Your mileage may vary. After all, it's your head, your room and your particular Internet appliance.

That said, we're winding our way toward Christmas here in the culture-war bunker in Omaha, by God, Nebraska, and the music just keeps on a-comin'. And, boy, is it good. If you happen to be celebrating Hanukkah instead, it's just as good as a plate of warm latkes.

I do love me some latkes, so that should tell you something about this week's program. The show, in my humble opinion, is even as good as a nice brisket.

Perhaps I was born the wrong religion, come to think of it.

Let's just say this week's musical selections are nice -- holiday nice.

So let's get on with the show, shall we?

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.

3 Chords & the Truth: Don't fence me in

This is 3 Chords & the Truth. We don't do fences here.

There's not much to keep the easy listening out of rock 'n' roll's business. Nothing separating jazz from classical. Or country from the blues, punks from mods, the secular from the sacred.

On the Big Show, it's always a free-for-all. What you know you'll get next is not knowing what you'll hear next.

It's Christmastime now, so expect some musical surprises under the tree. And clichés embedded in program descriptions.

Hey, you come up with new, pithy things to say about 3 Chords & the Truth every week, why don't ya?

I've been under the weather. I'm tired of writing now. Listen to the show, OK? Peace out.

It's 3 Chords & the Truth, y'all. Be there. Aloha.