Bring back schmaltzy songs

Christmas pop song lyrics play by different rules. Children, food and family togetherness are never mentioned in pop songs from January through November. It would be unthinkable for a non-Christmas pop song released in the last 50 years to mention ‘Children playing having fun’ or God forbid, anything religious. But this was not always the case. The pop music of the pre-rock and roll era is, to our ears, often indigestibly schmaltzy and even holy.

Let’s have a quick look at some big hits of the 50s. Eddie Calvert sings of his father:

No one could be, so gentle and so lovable
Oh, my papa, he always understood.

Frankie Laine tells us:

Every time I hear a newborn baby cry or touch a leaf, or see the sky
Then I know why I believe.

While Michael Holliday relates in ‘The Story Of My Life’:

There’s one thing left to do
Before my story’s through
I’ve got to take you for my wife
So the story of my life can start and end with you.