November 17, 2022
It’s that time of year where we transition from listening to different spooky selections to listening to more whimsical Christmas tunes, but we are skipping something. Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is a very underrated holiday in my opinion; you get days off of work or school, you spend time with your family, and you get to eat as much as you want. The food you eat is also typically very good and comforting. This holiday should get more recognition and praise, and one way to accomplish this is to have more songs that people will sing their hearts out about this wonderful, underappreciated holiday.
There are so many songs written about the joy that comes with Christmas time and I believe that these songs contribute greatly to the hype and excitement of the holiday season. So, why can’t Thanksgiving have the same thing to hype itself up?
Being able to put on pretty much any Christmas song and having the group of people you are with all join in together is amazing because you know you are all bad, but with everyone singing horribly together, it doesn’t even matter because you all are just in a state of bliss. However, when you put on “Do The Mashed Potatoes” by James Brown and sing your heart out to it you will get a weird response from those around you. No one will sing with you, but they will look at you all weird, and you will remember that you actually aren’t a good singer. So then you are sitting there all awkward with James Brown still playing lightly in the background, and all of your friends are questioning why you didn’t just put on some random Christmas playlist that they would actually know and be able to sing along to?
If an artist like Mariah Carey were to make a song about Thanksgiving, I believe that there would be so much more excitement and maybe it would push back the start of when we find it acceptable to start listening to Christmas music and decorating for the holidays. I, for one, am a big advocate that Christmas starts after Thanksgiving, so if we can make songs about Thanksgiving time, that would potentially slow the Christmas hype, I am all for it. Adam Sandler probably has the most recognizably, and most known, Thanksgiving song appropriately titled “Thanksgiving Song”. If you are able to pry an answer from someone to the question about what Thanksgiving songs they know, it’s probably this one.Maybe he would be willing to make another Turkey Day song since his last is currently at the top. No one else is better at Thanksgiving songs than he is.
The only Thanksgiving song I can remember singing was back in first grade with Mr. Babb, and that song is “Five Fat Turkeys”. As a six year old, I remember this song going hard and looking forward to singing it in class. Maybe we can get Doja Cat or Jack Harlow to sample it. When sharing his opinion on the fast transition between holidays Mr. Babb said, “I believe these few short weeks are a great time to use music to highlight both our own Thanksgiving and family traditions, but also cultural celebrations throughout the world.” Let’s make our beloved primary music teacher happy with more songs to celebrate Thanksgiving. So ladies and gentlemen put down your wreaths, put down the lights and either make your own Thanksgiving related song (and please send it in to me so I can be the judge) or get in the DMs of your favorite band/singer and bug them to make a song, or album, about this wonderful holiday about turkey, eating, giving thanks, friends, and family called Thanksgiving.
After reading this article to the rest of the newspaper class, I challenged them to write a line to the next potential holiday hit and I combined all their ideas to make our own turkey day song. Here is our masterpiece:
Gobble Gobble
There’s so much more to do than eat the turkey breast and leg
You get to see weird cousins pick their nose and uncle’s who drink from a keg
We gettin’ that turkey, and I ain’t talking bowling
My stomach ain’t the only thing I be stuffin’
Stuffing is the best, it’s got my vote
Gobble gobble gobble down my throat
Yummy Yummy ham in my tummy tummy
Man I love ham
STOP! HOLD UP! Jesus says eat more turkey
So get to gobblin’ that bird
Eat eat eat
Turkey turkey turkey
Thanks Thanks Thanks
Giving giving giving
With all the eating, giving thanks, and family & friends
Thanksgiving is exactly like Christmas
SIKE
Shake it like a turkey
Turn this kitchen into a shake & bake
See his butt, it jiggle jiggle
Oh boy it jiggle jiggles
But all we here is giggle giggles
‘Cause the families all got a nibble nibble
Of that holiday spirit, when the family all meets in the middle middle
We’re all dancing when we hear the slams
My sister is passed out in her candied yams
