Seasons Greetings Everyone!
I hope that you all have a Very Happy Christmas and a wonderful and prosperous 2018! If you don’t celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a Happy Festive Season and a wonderful and prosperous 2018!
In the spirit of Christmas, I would like to share a song with you. It doesn’t matter whether you believe in Christmas or not. In fact, the song, White wine in the Sun, was written by Tim Minchin who is an atheist. It’s a song for everyone.
Alex Holyoake @stairhopper Unsplash.com
I first heard this song when my son Christopher, who lives in Sydney, sent me a link to it on YouTube. It reminded him of our Christmases here on the Gold Coast with his father, sister, and me. In the eight years he’s been living in Sydney, he has been able to return here to celebrate Christmas with us every year. This Christmas once again, Christopher’s father, sister and I will be drinking white wine in the sun, waiting for him to come home.
For many Australians, and people everywhere, Christmas is a time for family gatherings. It’s a time when we remember how fortunate we are to have our families.
I love the way this song celebrates the importance of family and, unlike the songwriter, I celebrate the religious focus of Christmas and the birth of Jesus.
I explain some of the references in the song before the song lyrics. After the song lyrics, I focus on some of the grammar.
 Aaron Burden @aaronburden References: · break bread = have a meal with · an ancient religion = Christianity · a dead Palestinian = Jesus · press-ganged = forced into · jocks = men’s underwear |
Song: Wine Wine in the Sun
by Tim Minchin
I really like Christmas.
It’s sentimental. I know, but I just really like it.
I am hardly religious.
I’d rather break bread with Dawkins than Desmond Tutu, to be honest.
And yes, I have all of the usual objections to consumerism:
to the commercialisation of an ancient religion,
to the westernisation of a dead Palestinian
press-ganged into selling Playstations and beer,
but I still really like it.
I’m looking forward to Christmas
though I’m not expecting a visit from Jesus.
Chorus I’ll be seeing my dad, my brother and sisters, my gran and my mum. They’ll be drinking white wine in the sun. I’ll be seeing my dad, my brother and sisters, my gran and my mum. They’ll be drinking white wine in the sun.
I don’t go in for ancient wisdom.
I don’t believe just ‘cause ideas are tenacious, it means that they’re worthy.
I get freaked out by churches.
Some of the hymns that they sing have nice chords but the lyrics are dodgy.
And yes, I have all of the usual objections to the miseducation
of children who in tax-exempt institutions are taught to externalise blame,
and to feel ashamed and to judge things as plain right or wrong,
but I quite like the songs.**
I’m not expecting big presents.
The old combination of socks, jocks and chocolates is just fine by me.
Joshua Clay @joshua2529 … Unsplash.com
‘Cause, … Chorus
And you, my baby girl,
my jet-lagged infant daughter,
you’ll be handed ’round the room
like a puppy at a primary school,
and you won’t understand,
but you will learn some day
that wherever you are and whatever you face,
these are the people who make you feel safe in this world.
My sweet blue-eyed girl,
and if, my baby girl,
when you’re twenty-one or thirty-one
and Christmas comes around
and you find yourself nine thousand miles from home,
you’ll know whatever comes,
your brothers and sisters and me and your mum
will be waiting for you in the sun.
Whenever you come,
your brothers and sisters, your aunts and your uncles,
your grandparents, cousins, and me and your mum
will be waiting for you in the sun,
drinking white wine in the sun.
Darling, when Christmas comes,
we’ll be waiting for you in the sun.
We’ll be drinking white wine in the sun,
waiting for you in the sun.
Waiting for you,
Waiting …
I, I really like Christmas.
It’s sentimental. I know.
Click on the Christmas trees ⇑ for the Youtube video.
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Now, let’s look at the grammar!
Colour code for the song lyrics above:
Simple Sentences
Compound Sentences &, in bold, co-ordinating conjunctions
Complex Sentences &, in bold, subordinating conjunctions.
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Now, let’s have a closer look at the Complex Sentences. The Subordinating Clauses (Dependent Clauses) are all underlined and the Subordinating Conjunctions are in bold pink:1.Noun Clauses, underlined in the Complex Sentences below: ♥ I don’t believe just ‘cause ideas are tenacious, it means that they’re worthy.
♥ And you, my baby girl, my jet-lagged infant daughter, you’ll be handed ’round the room like a puppy at a primary school, and you won’t understand, but you will learn some day that wherever you are and whatever you face, these are the people who make you feel safe in this world.
♥ My sweet blue-eyed girl, and if, my baby girl, when you’re twenty-one or thirty-one and Christmas comes around and you find yourself nine thousand miles from home, you’ll know whatever comes, your brothers and sisters and me and your mum will be waiting for you in the sun.
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2. Adverb Clauses, underlined in the Complex Sentences below: ♥ I’m looking forward to Christmas though I’m not expecting a visit from Jesus.
♥ My sweet blue-eyed girl, and if, my baby girl, when you’re twenty-one or thirty-one and Christmas comes around and you find yourself nine thousand miles from home, you’ll know whatever comes, your brothers and sisters and me and your mum will be waiting for you in the sun.
♥Whenever you come, your brothers and sisters, your aunts and your uncles, your grandparents, cousins, and me and your mum will be waiting for you in the sun, drinking white wine in the sun.
♥ Darling, when Christmas comes, we’ll be waiting for you in the sun.
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3. Relative Clauses, underlined in the Complex Sentences below: ♥ Some of the hymns that they sing have nice chords but the lyrics are dodgy.
♥ And yes, I have all of the usual objections to the miseducation of children who in tax-exempt institutions are taught to externalise blame, and to feel ashamed and to judge things as plain right or wrong, but I quite like the songs.**
♥ And you, my baby girl, my jet-lagged infant daughter, you’ll be handed round the room like a puppy at a primary school, and you won’t understand, but you will learn some day that wherever you are and whatever you face, these are the people who make you feel safe in this world.
** I was educated at a Catholic school for 13 years and was not “taught to externalise blame, and to feel ashamed and to judge things as plain right or wrong”. I had a wonderful education. However, I accept that Tim Minchin’s views on this issue are different to mine.
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