Prestonwood Baptist Church with their 'Gift of 'Christmas 2025' show, feat. the Little Drummer Boy pic.twitter.com/cdXIvBl9ds
— Protestia (@Protestia) December 9, 2025
The link on "well-documented" goes to a Petri column from 2015 devoted to denouncing the song: "The Little Drummer Boy is just a plain old jerk. Specifically, the kind of jerk who insists on telling us about a time he showed up at a party without a gift and made everyone there miserable by playing what he thinks was a sick drum solo. But he cannot just tell us. Instead, he constantly interrupts his own narrative with twee drum noises so that it takes longer. I have told people long-winded stories that reflected poorly on me, but at least I never prolonged the story with bad onomatopoeic noises ('Then I said to the cab driver HONK HONK HONK HONK hey looks like I forgot my wallet HONK HONK HONK HONK HONKETY HONK can I pay you in kind HONK HONK HONK HONK I have a book and some Forever stamps HONK HONK HONKETY HONK-A-HONK HONK would that work? HONNNNK HONK HONK HONKA HONK HONK') This is what sets me apart from the Little Drummer Boy...."
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92 comments:
Yikes. How awful. All that is missing is the Logan's Run mid-air zap. Creepy.
It's the Little Drummer Boy, not the Floating Chodes.
He said, 'make it Godly', not Ghastly.
I've always hated that song. Geez, the kid was just born and trying to sleep and you are over there making all this racket on the drums. Show some consideration idiot.
A fever dream from hell
The drummer boys are getting raptured?
Just the other day I was telling my wife how much I dislike the Harry Simeone Chorale's 1958 recording, which is the one we typically hear today.
I like this one!
I often tell my wife that I believe God has a sense of humor. She then asks me how I know.
I reply “He made us, didn’t He?”
Its a nice sentimental song, no need to drown in neon lights
As usual the bezos post misses the boat
When I was wee child, I thought the song was dirty because of the "bum bum". I have yet to be convinced otherwise.
My late sister declared that New Yorkers play a game in December. The winner is the one who gets through Christmas without once hearing a rendition of The Little Drummer Boy.
Althouse - I have new found respect for your dislike of this song.
A runner-up is the Carol of the Bells.
Happy Holidays. So, we're picking Christmas things out and complaining about them. Ewww christmas. Sounds so 1975.
Next up, people complain about Christmas trees.
I like Carol of the Bells because we sang it in my very first girls' choir. But... yeah.
The Little Drummer Boy is my husband's favorite Christmas carol, if I'm not mistaken. He also insists on turning up the background music at parties such that I can't follow the conversation.
I like listening to the Mormon Tabernacle choir at Christmas.
As I drive up North - I love finding Tchaikovsky's' Nutcracker on any of the Classical Radio stations.
Modern Christian Rock is often very cringe. No thanks.
The column was much worse than any rendition of the song
As for the song, its just another commerical Xmas jingle. The only difference is it actually has a little bit about the birth of Jesus, as opposed to being about snow or a cartoon character.
My nominations for worst commerical Christmas songs:
-Rudolph
-Here comes Santa Claus
- All I want for Christmas is You
- Frosty the Snowman
Yuck... Instead try this..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OAzlSDMBxU&list=RD3OAzlSDMBxU&start_radio=1
or this..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrOZW0Soxus&list=RDNrOZW0Soxus&start_radio=1
Vegas isn't so hot right now, so maybe adding Cirque De Soleil and Blue Man Group to caroling is a bad idea.
Mary knew this was a bad idea
Man, between this and Joy Reid screaming about Jingle Bells being a racist song; Christmas is going to be a real bummer this year!
Wow! That was really cool! Loved it!
Commercial Christmas songs are not all bad.
Tho - the worst one is by John Lennon. Major cringe!
The Wexford Carol is one of my favorites, but the one time I've performed it, the director wanted some kind of "atmosphere" to happen.
The arrangement had a soloist on the lyrics with the rest of the choir doing a wordless hum or syllable in many parts behind her - it was very pretty. But the way he decided to do it was to range the choir around the interior walls of the church where we were performing, and send the soloist - me, about five months pregnant at this point, just enough to get out of breath easily - up to the choir loft to have the lyrics float down from above. So I had to hustle up the stairs while everyone was taking their positions, try like heck to get my breath back, and start the piece, striving mightily to project as I'd never had to project before. Whew!
"The execution of the song is bad. There is not even an actual drum in the dang song, there is just someone saying PA-RUM-PA-PUM-PUM, which, frankly, is not a good onomatopoeia and probably is an insult to those fluent in Drum."
You need to listen to the Dwight Shrute version: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/G8_KgPs1smk
Two of the best Christmas songs were written by Jews. Hark the Herald Angels Sing by Mendelssohn, White Christmas by Irving Berlin. There may be more.
"Prestonwood Baptist Church is a Baptist multi-site megachurch based in Plano, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. It is one of the largest churches in America, with a membership of over 45,000 and a weekly attendance of around 17,000. The Plano campus covers an area of 140 acres, and includes a 7,000-seat worship center, a school offering pre-kindergarten through grade 12, a fitness center with outdoor sports fields, a café, a library, and a bookstore.
In 2006, the church expanded to include a second campus of nearly 128 acres in Prosper. The north campus also has a primary–secondary school."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prestonwood_Baptist_Church
The latest County Highway magazine has a fantastic article about Prestonwood's Gift of Christmas show. Really, it's a great article. Almost as good as John Jeremiah Sullivan's classic Upon This Rock piece.
Meanwhile, in another part of the forest....
Despite hearing them annually for 67 years straight, I couldn't correctly recite lyrics to any Christmas song. I think this is why you don't learn things by listening to recordings in your sleep. Wouldn't it be awesome if that really worked? You wake up and fully understand quantum mechanics, or even auto mechanics. Those guys always confuse me with their math.
As long as it's not done by Mariah Carey, I can at least tolerate, if only once or twice a Christmas season, just about any of the panoply of holiday music.
No - there's one that sets me into a silent rage. Paul Mac's Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time. I could go Elvis on a TV when I hear that.
I love the centuries-old classics but also Bobby Helms' Jingle Bell Rock. I just heard "Snow" from the movie White Christmas; it always makes me smile and sing along.
The 50's Italian baritones - Al Martino, Jerry Vale, Vic Damone among others - all did well with Christmas music.
“ The Wexford Carol is one of my favorites”
Listen to the Yo-Yo Mas version with Alison Krauss. I was shocked to learn Alison Krauss is a Bluegrass singer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxDZjg_Igoc
Make fun if you must, but I think that's probably exactly how it looked when Jesus first produced the song as a child. The kid had exceptional chops, even for a Jew.
Did the "flying" drummer boys in the video not help a little? Come on, drummer boys suspected by cables is what the season's all about.
For many years, the unofficial Irish number one Christmas song was Fairy Tale Of New York by The Pogues. You heard it constantly. In recent years it has been cancelled entirely because it contains the line "cheap lousy faggot". I consider this a great loss.
What a Christmas curmudgeon! Tell me, Althouse, is your true first name is not Ann but “Ebenezer”?
Our hostess may not like drums, but little boys sure do.
For me, Vince Guaraldi's My Little Drum is a great alternative to the traditional Little Drummer Boy.
https://youtu.be/XO2kSduwY34?si=sRrTTZGYFVkVE8xg
Of course it rhymes. Drum rhymes with Pum!
USA! USA!
I don't wanna work, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum,
Just wanna bang the drum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum.
There is the God of the Old Testament who asked for loud drums and clanging cymbals along with the songs of praise. My hunch is that Jesus took after His Dad.
"[I]f you ever feel like giving me a gift, and you think all you've got to give is that drum number you're threatening to perform, realize you are making a mistake."
Just like a woman. But they all love the one where the guy gives his girlfriend 78 presents, including a bunch of slaves to do her chores for her.
..I often tell my wife that I believe God has a sense of humor. She then asks me how I know.
I reply “He made us, didn’t He?”
Once you realize that GOD intended the universe to be a dark comedy;
the whole thing makes much more sense
Gotta put in a plug once more for the Roches' Christmas album, "We Three Kings." Maybe the best Christmas album ever. Long and rich, and every song is beautiful, even the usually awful Little Drummer Boy.
Why do we think that, he created the universe in intricate detall
We have turned to Chaos in our infinite wisdom
All of the boys in youth choir loved singing the "pa rum pa pum pum" s, but since I became a man, and put away childish things, I have positively loathed it. However, my pick for the worst ever Christmas song is Burl Ives singing "Have a holly, jolly Christmas."
BTW, dissing bad Christmas music is not anti- Christmas or anti- Christian
Hey. I wasn't finished...calling out tacky music (and that video really sucks) is the favorite seasonal sport of church choristers and musicians. I wish you all a very fine Christmas.
wise guys in the pit just before the downbeat:
"don't forget to make it shine..."
If you're a working musician, Christmas means you work.
The public's ears have to suffer the consequences. We do not choose, we just read the part. Usually at sight. Usually at night.
Praise be for the need for music for Christmas. It's a financial pleasure, to quote Kinky Friedman, legendary bandleader.
When people say they like the David Bowie version, they just mean the like the "Peace on Earth" counterpoint addition.
“consider the possibility that Jesus was just being nice”
The lyric is, “Then He smiled at me.” Consider the possibility that Baby Jesus was smiling because the little drummer boy had stopped playing.
That Petri is no dish.
That said, I agree 110% with her and the Prof--the song is a loathsome excresence.
Felix Mendelssohn was a Lutheran, and proud of it, btw.
Try Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28 = a famous 11-movement Christmas cantata for treble voices (children's or women's) and harp, composed by Benjamin Britten in 1942 while traveling by ship during World War II. It sets medieval English texts, including Gregorian chants, to create a unified work telling the story of Christ's birth, unified by a recurring plainsong chant and a central harp interlude, and remains one of Britten's most beloved and performed pieces.
At 4:31, "Jesus's Thank You Notes."
https://youtu.be/NLarTE5Nc7g?si=-QtPjm6CYvjuscN0
I get pretty bored with all Christmas music.
Here is my list of alternative Christmas music. You may hate it: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoXnOQGUCpJjVSnhNnicV8A2yWeIHydfC&si=xuf0L0cfob93-FXH
I dunno… Bowie’s duet with Der Bingle was pretty special, especially the latter’s “bahrump ba bum bum”.
Magilla Gorilla said...
Gotta put in a plug once more for the Roches' Christmas album, "We Three Kings."
I'll second that recommendation, save for that awful cover of Frosty The Snowman done in that annoyingly nasal New York accent.
"Hark the Herald Angels Sing by Mendelssohn"
Mendelssohn composed a cantata to commemorate Johannes Gutenberg's invention of movable type, and it is music from this cantata, adapted by the English musician William H. Cummings to fit the lyrics of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", that is used for the carol today.
The Carol was written in the 18th century, and then 2 Methodists revised the words a little bit and then "borrowed" Mendellson's melody from another song.
My Drummer Boy...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EKaflXTzHw
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
“There is the God of the Old Testament who asked for loud drums and clanging cymbals along with the songs of praise. My hunch is that Jesus took after His Dad.”
And two of the Father’s archangels were Neil Peart and Buddy Rich
Claymation Christmas really is a forgotten treasure of surprisingly good versions of songs. I prefer their We Three Kings over almost any other version out there.
"the worst one is by John Lennon. Major cringe!"
Oddly enough, one of the other worst ones is the insipid "Wonder Christmas" by McCartney.
-Hey Felix watcha doin'?
-I'm writing musical piece to celebrate movable Type.
-Cool. We've been waiting for that for years!
-Build a better mousetrap....
One thing you dont get here is all the American Christmas muzak in the stores. They do have them, they are called "Villancicos". They are no better, but at least they are different.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHfeXMO-pUU
The Logans run bit is apt re the video. But in re Logans Run I was more interested in Jenny Agutter really. Very calm, quiet girl, no drumming or blowing up. She had an interesting dress.
I love Little Drummer Boy! Rock it man
Sting, I Saw Three Ships
My mom really liked it but I remain neutral to negative. Always seemed kinda dumb, but I like the message and melody.
Having just did a quick search on it, I was surprised to learn that The Sound of Music's Von Trapps first recorded it in 1951.
Bob Seger's version of "The Little Drummer Boy" on the "A Very Special Christmas" compilation album released in 1987 is fantastic. Other good contributions to that album are US singing "Baby Please Come Home" and John Mellencamp's "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause."
Joe Bar
You got some good stuff on there.
I approve
The No Doubt song - wow - I've never seen/heard that before. LOL. Strange.
If you haven't heard any, the Christmas music from Trinidad and Tobago (and some of the Caribbean islands also) is very sweet and traditional, coming originally from Venezuelan migrants.
Here's an example mix
tcrosse said... "Two of the best Christmas songs were written by Jews. Hark the Herald Angels Sing by Mendelssohn, White Christmas by Irving Berlin. There may be more."
"The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"
"Let It Snow"
"Winter Wonderland"
"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"
"Silver Bells"
"I'll Be Home for Christmas"
"Santa Baby"
"Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer"
"A Holly Jolly Christmas"
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"
Magilla Gorilla said... "Gotta put in a plug once more for the Roches' Christmas album, 'We Three Kings.' Maybe the best Christmas album ever."
Their three-part harmony on "The Hallelujah Chorus" was also spectacular.
Ah, La Agutter!
okay, this version sucks
but when I do it, man!
Christianity was conceived by the best of the Jews. Many followed. Muslims, too, in their own fashion.
Broadway revisited is a reason and meme.
This is a favorite of mine posted this time of year.
Titties at the 2:03 mark.
this one is cool
I have long felt that retail workers deserve 2x salary during the Christmas season for listening to the same old songs over and over and over.
The idea of omniscient omnipotent benevolent Divinity suddenly manifesting on Earth is strange enough that it can provoke wildly different responses,from sublime to ridiculous.Today my response is to wonder about the DNA of Jesus.
My younger sister irritated me years ago, I forget why, when her first two children - good stronk boys - were about 4 and 6 years old. That year for Christmas I sent the nephews a nice kid sized marching drum, and a toy tool set with kid-sized hammers, saws, and so on. Her sanity and her furniture were never quite the same. Best gifts ever, I recommend the same to all uncles with irritating siblings.
The best Christmas song is of course, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. It’s superficially ambiguous but still quite hot in implication.
"Christianity was conceived by the best of the Jews. Many followed. Muslims, too, in their own fashion."
So why are so many Jews anti-Christian and anti-Muslim. Strange. There seems to be something different between the religions. I can't put my finger on it.
So Internet boomer that if you bring up Christmas everyone starts snarking about it and bringing up Jews. Its like peak boomer from 1975.
Oh,yeah? Have you heard the Dylan/Baez duet? Outstanding
Do you know who else famously hated Little Drummer Boy? David Bowie. Bowie agreed to be on the show with Bing because "my mom likes him." When he showed up he was told he was singing a straight duet withe Bing of Little Drumer Boy. To which he said ""I hate this song. Is there something else I could sing?" musical supervisor Ian FraserFraser recalled. Startled, Fraser and the writers found a piano in the studio's basement and wrote "Peace on Earth" as a counterpoint to "Little Drummer Boy" in just over an hour.
Dear Lord… please spare us from “Little Drummer Boy”. I will take “Fairytale of New York” over that any day and laugh at the clever lyrics. But when I want to feel all nostalgic for the Vermont Christmases of my childhood, I put on “Driving Home for Christmas” by Chris Rea, and get all teary-eyed and mushy.
I always liked it and still do.
When I was a youngster, my mom had Christmas music from the Ray Conniff Singers and Johnny Mathis on the turntable.
Other than Beach Boys songs and the Ronettes stuff , I guess my favorite non-traditional Christmas song is the Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping”. Probably due to heavy listening to SoCal’s KROQ in the 80s.
Paul Z bestowed us with:
I don't wanna work, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum,
Just wanna bang the drum, pa-rum-pa-pum-pum.
The Packers' touchdown celebration song is the best version. Thank God for Todd Rundgren.
Since some are sharing Christmas playlists, here is my Twisted Christmas playlist. Not for the faint of heart!
https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/08c8eb4c7c054a6d93e6bc15719a057fsune?ref=dm_sh_cwcFqWNyxv1S0fxs4voBacC7I
Mariah Carey is a gift from God; there, I said that too.
Peachy:
Good find! I like that.
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