Song of the Day 12/17: Frank Sinatra, “Mistletoe and Holly”

Guest post by Nathan Arizona

This is the time of year for songs that celebrate poison. Mistletoe and holly: Don’t eat them.

Frank Sinatra seemed a little venomous now and then, so maybe it’s fitting that he first sang – and even co-wrote – “Mistletoe and Holly,” which has become a Christmas classic. But he sounds warm and friendly on this song from the 1957 album “A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra,” the same year he opened his live 1957 Christmas TV special with it.

The Druids are said to have thought mistletoe encouraged fertility, but no one really knows who they were or what they were doing. By the 18th century that had turned into young British rakes using it as an excuse to steal a smooch. Mr. Christmas, Charles Dickens, wrote about it in “The Pickwick Papers.”

There’s no kissing connection with holly. It works for Christmas because its thick evergreen leaves thrive in winter and it looks festive, especially the red berries. Of course it’s the toxic berries you have to watch out for. They probably won’t kill you, but they will make you vomit and give you diarrhea. You might wish you were dead.

Sinatra’s songs are from the era of artful and sophisticated pop music. Gordon Jenkins, one of the era’s great arrangers, conducted the orchestra on this one. Veteran Sinatra associate Hank Sanicola was a co-writer.

Here’s Frank singing “Mistletoe and Holly” while decorating a tree (but not the hard part) from that Christmas TV special.

The song also appears on an album called “Christmas With the Rat Pack” and I thought, Who wouldn’t want to hear swinging versions of “Jingle Bells” by Sammy Davis and “Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer” by Dean Martin? I couldn’t find anything by Jackie Rogers Jr.

“SCTV” reference aside, it seems to me Dino and especially Sammy are better than their Vegas connections might suggest.