It occurred to me while I was on vacation and heard "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" for the 105th time that the song doesn't make any sense at all. First of all Rudolph, "had a very shiny nose." And you might even say, "it glows." But that's hardly enough candle power to guide a sleigh through a foggy night. Plus Santa has a zillion flashlights and batteries in his sleigh, why depend on one shiny nose? Besides, why wasn't he prepared? Hadn't this ever happened before? Putting all of that aside, keep in mind, "All of the other reindeers used to laugh at Rudy and call him names." Talk about creeps. This is the kind of animal help Santa hires: jeering reindeer bullies? And I'm supposed to think that when Santa asked this effeminate (look at the pictures) reindeer to guide his sleigh, all these other antlered thugs were suddenly shouting out— in glee yet—, "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, you'll go down in history." I doubt very much that it ever happened like that. Frankly I think Robert L. May made the whole thing up and songwriter Johnny Marks and Gene Autry were part of the conspiracy.
Actually, the reindeer may be expected to be effeminate. All reindeer grow their antlers at the start of summer, but the males shed 'em around mid-November/early-December. Females don't. So Santa's little helpers are all females, probably illegals at that. Though why they all sport masculine names is a mystery. Incidentally, this also explains why Rudolf, bless her little red nose, never gets lost.
ReplyDeleteChuck, New Delhi.
Thanks. I didn't realize that all Santa's reindeer are female. So the lyrics "Used to laugh and call him names" are wrong. I will now insist the wording is changed to "her."
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