Happy Holidays!

Glutinous rice ball, a food traditionally served during Dong Zhi

When the Princeton Review Vocabulary MInute was starting up two years ago, I wrote a seasonal song called "Happy Holidays." It's always been one of my favorite vocabulary songs and I always felt that it deserved to be fleshed out.

To that end, I recently wrote a second verse and a bridge to the song, upgrading "Happy Holidays" from its Pinocchio-like status to that of a "real song." I couldn't convince The Princeton Review to release the entire song as a Vocab Minute (it was too long for the format) but did get them to bend enough to allow me 1:40 for the second verse and chorus, bridge, and reprise of the first chorus for this year's holiday song.

And so I point you to my myspace page, where you can hear both the original "Happy Holidays" and the new "Happy Holidays 2007." Play them one after the other to sort-of kind-of hear the song in its entirety. One day I'll record a full version of the song but it won't be soon; the 2007 version took 7 hours to track, mix, and master. The Phil Spector sound is a real challenge when you've only got one musician to work with.

Happy Holidays

If you want to wish someone a happy holiday
Here's how you can do it in a brand new way
You'll spread a little universal mirth and glee
Bringing joy to the world in perfect harmony

Have a festive Festival of Light (Happy Hanukkah is what you're sayin')
May you have a jubilant Yuletide (Have a Merry Christmas eve and day and)
Hope you have a jovial Kwanzaa, happy as can be
And my New Year bring good tidings, meaning better news for you and me!

If you want to be a part of the latest craze
Just take your favorite greeting for the holidays
Then use some synonyms to write a paraphrase
Change the words but not the meaning that the greeting conveys

May your Kwanzaa be full of elation (hope that it's as happy as can be)
Hope your Christmas bring you exaltation (celebrating 'neath the Christmas tree)
May your Hannukah be blissful, full of joy and mirth
And may New Year's Eve inaugurate an age of peace and love on Earth

Let's wish all Muslims an idyllic Eid al-Adha
And for the Chinese, a delirious Dong-Zhi
Let everyone on Earth be a persona grata
Blessed with the Maker's love and sweet tranquility

Have a festive Festival of Light (Happy Hanukkah is what you're sayin')
May you have a jubilant Yuletide (Have a Merry Christmas eve and day and)
Hope you have a jovial Kwanzaa, happy as can be
And my New Year bring good tidings, meaning better news for you and me!

by Tom Meltzer ©The Princeton Review