December 2008

Editors Letter
“Let’s Face the Music and Dance”
— a holiday classic for our times? Pat Atkinson

There may be trouble ahead
But while there’s music and moonlight and love and romance
Let’s face the music and dance.

Of all the songs Irving Berlin ever composed, “White Christmas,” his musical expression of people’s yearnings for home and hearth, was likely the one that most excited him. According to legend, Berlin stayed up all night writing it and upon arriving at his office early the next morning, announced to his musical secretary, “Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I’ve ever written — hell, I just wrote the best song that anybody’s ever written!”

Before the fiddlers have fled
Before they ask us to pay the bill,
and while we still have the chance
Let’s face the music and dance.

And “White Christmas” was certainly a song for the times. Bing Crosby’s recording of it resonated strongly with listeners during WWII and it became a favourite request on the Armed Forces Network. Eventually, the single sold more than 50 million copies and The Guinness Book of World Records currently lists the song as a 100-million seller.

Soon, we’ll be without the moon
Humming a different tune - and then...

Berlin lived to 101 and without ever learning to play the piano or write music beyond a rudimentary level, composed many great songs. Among them, the smoky ballad, “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” stresses the importance of celebrating before it’s time to “pay the piper.” The song was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1936 film Follow the Fleet when Franklin Roosevelt was in his second term of office and the US was just beginning to claw its way out of the Great Depression. There’s a lot of sense in these lyrics and I would argue, if Berlin were alive today, this is the carol he would introduce for the 2008 holiday season. I for one will be following his advice note for note.

There may be teardrops to shed
So while there’s music and moonlight
and love and romance
Let’s face the music and dance.

With all the iffy headlines and forecasts we’ve been reading lately, we cannot know what tomorrow may bring, so make sure to eat your dessert first and have yourself a merry, little Christmas (or Bodhi Day or Rohatsu or Chanukah, or Kwanzaa, or Chinese New Year or any other precious ethnic or cultural holiday) now!

All the best in 2009!