Anticipating some additional Christmas/holiday visitors, my wife, while getting some groceries, picked up a 12-pack of PBR to have on hand. When I was helping put things away, I was surprised to see an old friend on the can artwork.
Since I’m a bit inquisitive, a simple search uncovered the following information:
PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon) partnered with official Godzilla artist Attack Peter (Peter Santa-Maria) for a major 70th anniversary collaboration in late 2025, featuring his signature hand-carved linoleum block prints of Godzilla and other kaiju (Mothra, Mechagodzilla, King Ghidorah) on cans and packaging.
I felt the need to pay homage to “The Lizard King” and what better way to do so than to share a live recording of Blue Oyster Cult, from back in the day?
A fan favorite, performed as only a bunch of guys from New York City could.
Like Alice’s Restaurant on Thanksgiving, my listening to “Another Christmas Song” multiple times on Christmas Day is non-negotiable.
Ian Anderson is a brilliant composer and this piece, while mostly unknown, should have been a popular hit.
Another Christmas Song, with lyrics below
Hope everybody’s ringing on their own bell, this fine morning. Hope everyone’s connected to that long distance phone. Old man, he’s a mountain. Old man, he’s an island. Old man, he’s a-walking says: “I’m going to call, call all my children home”.
Hope everybody’s dancing to their own drum this fine morning: The beat of distant Africa or a Polish factory town. Old man, he’s calling for his supper. Calling for his whiskey. Calling for his sons and daughters, yeah Calling, calling all his children round.
Sharp ears are tuned in to the drones and chanters warming. Mist blowing round some headland, somewhere in your memory. Everyone is from somewhere Even if you’ve never been there. So take a minute to remember the part of you That might be the old man calling me.
How many wars you’re fighting out there, this winter’s morning? Maybe it’s always time for another Christmas song. Old man he’s asleep now. He’s got appointments to keep now. Dreaming of his sons and daughters, yeah, proving, Proving that the blood is strong.
As I get older, I tend to ponder my life and recall my younger days. The many people who formed me, directly and indirectly, are remembered. Some, I’ve called and others, are dead, but they receive a few minutes of reflection.
This song by Dan was one of his biggest hits and I think people related to the experience. In my mind, it goes way beyond bumping into someone from your romantic past. I think it has to do with our memories of how life was simpler when we were younger.
Who doesn’t think about that?
This performance took place in 2004, less than 3 years before Dan died of prostate cancer.
I believe it was Christmas of 2019. My father had died in September and I was going to be driving from SC to NJ ( and back again, a 1,200 mile round trip) to bring my mother down for a week to be with us for the holidays. She wasn’t exactly excited about the idea and went so far as to accuse me of bringing her SC to put her in a nursing home, but that’s another story and likely reflecting the early stages of her mind and body not being able to keep the promises her and dad made when they were younger. I’ll leave it at that she was not an enthusiastic traveler.😉
There could be several entertaining stories from that journey, but I’m going to focus on just one.
In Polish culture, the Christmas songs are referred to as Koleda (there are various spellings) and are embedded in the DNA of anyone of Polish descent. I still recall, as a youngster, my mother, singing along in Polish with the albums as she cooked and baked at Christmas time. Those of you reading this who knew my mom, probably benefitted from a tray of her Christmas cookies at least once.
Before leaving for NJ, I downloaded a few hours of Koleda into my iTunes account, preparing for the second leg of the trip.
As we headed South from Basking Ridge, it didn’t take too long for mom to begin venting at me, so I pulled out the only weapon I had available. After a few moments of shocked silence, she started singing along, occasionally crying and mentioning that she hadn’t heard some of the songs since she was a child. She thanked me again and again for thinking to get these for her.
This imperfect son nailed it this time and it reminds me of the meme that states a man was never shot by his wife when he was doing the dishes, but I digress.
What I wouldn’t give to be able to sit at the kitchen table and watch my mother sing while she baked hundreds of Christmas cookies. That being said, I wonder if our daughters, when in their 60s and we are gone, will fondly remember times from their childhood?
“Lulajze Jezuniu” is a traditional Polish Christmas carol (koleda), a lullaby to the Baby Jesus, dating back to the 17th century. Natalia Kukulska recorded it on her 1991/1992 album Najpiekniejsze koledy polskie.
What do you remember about Christmas when you were young?
Back in the 1990s, as daughters were born and/or becoming toddlers, this song was part of our Christmas routine. I can only hope that the tradition is picked up and passed down.
Earlier this week, a long-time follower of the Sunday Pipes series made a very specific request for today. I was not however, able to locate that performance, but I’m hoping it will be available online soon.
In the meantime, here is the meme that possibly prompted the hymn below, that we all know. 😉
Since I’m a bit inquisitive, a simple search uncovered the following information:
A last minute gift idea to myself this Christmas has been ordered. Actually, it’s my only physical gift. 
Now, the hymn. . .
Mitigating Chaos 
