the partridge family..

and a partridge in a pear tree?? what is that all about??

hey I like Christmas..it's the most wonderful time of the year, but I've been thinking about the songs we sing each season and am concerned about the messages we may be sending our youth..I was working yesterday on my old 1950s Goya 12 string guitar..a rough Swedish beauty that Tiger would take a shot at if he could..I tweaked and filed her and now she sings like a songbird..I started roving around the neighborhood like a lone caroler playing folky Christmas songs...then I got to "the 12 days of Christmas" and people started to hurry their kids away from me.. parents gave me dirty looks..I went home and started really thinking about the lyrics to the song and was aghast at the imagery I unwittingly was crooning about!

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

Twelve drummers drumming,

Eleven pipers piping,

Ten lords a-leaping,

Nine ladies dancing,

Eight maids a-milking,

Seven swans a-swimming,

Six geese a-laying,

Five golden rings,

Four calling birds,

Three French hens,

Two turtle doves,

And a partridge in a pear tree!
I consulted my oracle to find the real meanings to the nonsensical ramblings like eight maids a milking..nine ladies dancing..that's about SEX!! Twelve drummers...that was Santana's drummer at Woodstock doing "Soul Sacrifice" though it sounded like twelve.. and five golden rings.. onions rings!? and a partridge in a pear tree..look I got a bunch of pear trees and have NEVER seen a partridge in them..I've never even seen a partridge..ever! I have seen a young eagle near the highway by the Salt Marsh, perched on a sign! He must've gotten tired of all the harrassment on the Channel Islands!!
Anyway, this partridge song is full of symbolism, religious (some people say the partridge is Jesus!!) and pagan, and I suggest you think about that next time you hear it or sing!!
joy to the world...