The anniversary of John Lennon’s death…and I got so wrapped up in seasonal songs that I forgot to do Imagine (the only John Lennon song I own) or even any Beatles songs. I coulda done:

• Eight Days a Week Ranch House 508
• Act Naturally GMP 901
• I’ll Follow the Sun Shakedown 246
• Help Chaparral 809
• Life Goes On That Way (Ob-la-di) Blue Star 2397
• Beatle Mania Chicago Country 53
• Imagine Aussie Tempos 1006

but I didn’t. Instead, I did Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree (Royal 234) and Two Stepping Round the Christmas Tree (Silver Streak 104)…what is this thing about dancing around trees? Turns out I should have a natural affinity for dancing around holiday bushes; it’s a Danish tradition (just in case you don’t get the reference, my last name (Jensen) is, in Denmark, practically analogous to Smith).

So, does anyone have any good multi-cultural holiday singing calls? We can get away with our relentless xmas thing in square dancing because it’s so monocultural, at least in the US…but it’d be nice to acknowledge that there are other holiday traditions at this time of year. I’ve got a version of the Dreydl Song that I’ve electronically manipulated to make it kind of suitable for square dancing; I think I’ll try that out this next week. The only other thing I can think of is to change the words of holiday classics (or not-so-classics…the one I use most regularly is I Only Want You for [fill in the blank: Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Solstice] (Rockin’ M 119)).