12.06.2010

Seeing Red at a Blue Christmas


All the great music has to be my favorite part of the holidays. I sure wish we could listen to it all year long. I suppose then we wouldn't really appreciate it, right?

{sigh} Ooookay.

There is one song that I just can't bear to listen to ever again. As soon as I hear that infamous, stop-and-go, croony buildup of "I-I-I-I-IIIIII'llll have a..." I can't seem to shut off my radio quick enough. Then I shake my head and start laughing with the memory. If Joe is in the room we laugh together.

It was Christmas 2004.

Joe and I were living in our second apartment since we had been married. It was an upstairs unit in a four-plex community that we managed. I was pregnant with our first baby who was due in mid-January (coincidentally the exact same due date as this fourth baby). Both Joe and I worked nights; he as a detention deputy at the local jail and me as an emergency department technician at the local hospital.

Since we both worked nights, our sleeping schedules were a little off-kilter from the rest of the world.

Below us lived three single college guys who came and went at all hours of the day and night. For the most part we all got along and tried to respect each other regarding noise.

Until...

One morning, just as the rest of the world was preparing to wake and get ready for the day, Joe and I were laying in bed preparing to fall asleep after a long night of work. We snuggled in and waited for sweet slumber to take us away.

All the sudden we heard...



...being played full-blast. And it wouldn't have so bad if the college guy wasn't competing with his stereo with loud and high-pitched backup singer "Ooo-oh-ooo-oh"s through the whole thing.

Joe and I just stared at each other in disbelief...and busted out laughing.

It was the most hilarious thing we had ever heard from any neighbor...until we realized this was our early morning crooner's favorite Christmas song and we were treated to countless encore performances...that morning and at odd hours over the weeks to follow.

Sorry Elvis. I love your soulful, hip-twisting ways, but I NEVER want to hear that song again.

14 comments:

Carrie said...

HAHAHAHAHAHAAA. That song annoys me to. In fact, I have had to turn off a few songs on the Christmas radio station simple because "been there, done that."

I betcha he got himself a 10 cow wife;)

Sami said...

I loath that song! It was the one song that my mom would play while we were decorating as kids, that we would all BEG her to turn off.

Unknown said...

I'm with you there... my parents got me an Elvis Christmas CD one year..."Ummmm...thanks."

Macey said...

THAT is hilarious!
I hate that song. LOL
I used to work in retail and I got to where I hated Christmas music.
But I do have a favorite cd. And now I love it again.
ER Tech...that sounds very interesting! I bet you have lots of stories!

Bethany said...

I don't like that song, either. Wasn't until last week, though, that I found out it was a song from the movie The Year Without A Santa. The movie version is not as annoying, but not much better than the Elvis version. I really hate Feliz Navidad, too. That song is broken record kind of torture.

Ryann said...

I know that you don't know me so count me as a fellow "blog stalker" but I just have to say that you are a great, great, great writer. You can put into words what I think most of the time. Now that is power, I'm telling you! Thanks for your fun, whitty, full of love posts. Thanks for making me laugh (and cry) on the days that I need it the most. You rock!

Loved this post. Loved it. I can only imagine that humor these many years later with this.

Alright, back to my hiding spot now. Thanks for letting me stalk you!

shortmama said...

I'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas!!!

Oy now its stuck in my head!

Jodi said...

Funny story!

Myya said...

Uggghhh that one gets stuck in your head & you just can't get it out. That is pretty funny though. Can you imagine now a days you would record it on your phone & post it to your blog. LOL.
I wanna hear some emergency room stories. I wanted to be an ER Nurse once upon a time.

K Lind said...

Thanks for sharing! Dontcha love loud neighbors?! We used to have a tenant below us that sang very loudly to his guitar. The guitar sounded great .... his voice? Not so great. ;-)

cbusch said...

Love the story. It makes me smile and think about some of the crazy memories from the past :)

Pitterle Postings said...

What a great story!! I will never hear that song quite the same way again.

Lisa said...

Oh my!!! I love how certain things become taboo! :)

Mamarazzi said...

hilarious...especially the back up singer part.

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