But the other day while I was rehearsing with the Marion Ukulele Society for a couple of upcoming holiday gigs our leader Bob Frisbee called out one I’d never heard before: “Dominick the Donkey.” I wasn’t alone. Nobody in the group knew how it went and even Bob, who had heard it performed elsewhere, wasn’t sure of the melody. He just liked the way the players called out “Hee Haw” as part of the refrain.
According to my research, the song, written by Ray Allen, Sam Saltsburg, and Wandra Merrell, is about a donkey that helps Santa Claus bring presents to children in Italy. While I assumed that everyone knew from the Rudolph song that Santa’s reindeer can fly, apparently there is some skepticism about that ability in this European country. So to get Santa’s sleigh up the rocky hills, a donkey was needed for the climb. The song was recorded in 1960 by Lou Monk, an Italian-American, and apparently gained some popularity among many in that demographic. It has its share of Italian words in it, which may be why it was a struggle for our group to perform.
Here are a few other unusual Yuletide titles:
- Nuttin’ For Christmas
- Grandpa’s Gonna Sue the Pants off of Santa
- Christmas With Satan
- Disco Christmas
- I’m Gonna Spend my Christmas with a Dalek
- Christmas
So if you want a break from Jingle Bells and the other standards played and replayed this time of year seek out and hearken to some off-the-wall holiday selections.