If you’re like me, you won’t start listening to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. Probably a boomer thing, but that’s when I do. And they need to stop playing right after ringing in the New Year. Many Christmas songs, especially the older ones, bring back memories from days gone by. They remind me of my childhood Christmas seasons spent with my family and extended family with Christmas Eve celebrated at our house. We’d jam everyone in that rowhouse on 21st Street before we moved to “the big house” on Edgmont Avenue. The bigger the house, the bigger the parties. And my parents loved to throw a party. Christmas Eve was also my aunt Anne’s birthday, so we had extra reason to celebrate. I still get a little choked up when I hear some of the songs today.

But there’s one song in particular that always evokes the same memory: Blue Christmas sung by Elvis Presley.

It’s 1980 something, and I’m sitting in Wallio’s Frog Pond on Providence Avenue. I’m with the regular gang at the bar drinking 35 cent Schaefer draft beers. I’m looking at how much money I have left on the bar and trying to decide if I play the poker machine and win a few extra bucks for more beers or am I getting a cheesesteak. I go for the poker machine. If I win enough, I can get more beers AND the cheesesteak! The poker machine is next to the jukebox. And the jukebox is playing Christmas music.
Now Wallio’s was frequented by the old guys getting off shift from the shipyard or refineries, and underage guys like me, Vinny, Paul, and some regulars who live in Sun Hill. Although Widener College was 500 feet away, those kids went to the Campus Casino down 15th street. The old guys liked the old tunes. And one guy, or guys, loved Blue Christmas. You know the tune.

I'll have a blue Christmas without you
I'll be so blue just thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me

And through the whole song the background singers are singing “a woo a woo woo, a woo a woo woo”. Continuously. Over and over.

But the one line, the line that pierces my eardrums is
But I'll, have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas.

You hear it, right? “A woo a woo woo”. This song would play at least 10 times a night. It started off with Bing Crosby singing ‘White Christmas”, then Elvis with “Blue Christmas”, next up was Nat King Cole singing "The Christmas Song”, and then back to “Blue Christmas”! It got so repetitive that sometimes Rick the bartender would tell the crowd “The next guy that plays Blue Christmas is flagged”. And it was hard to get flagged from Wallio’s.

So we started Christmas music last week, and low and behold the first go-around of Blue Christmas comes on. Bam! My mind goes right back to Wallio’s. Sitting at the bar with Rick, Vinny, Paul, Jeff and few other guys. And then I start to sing. The whole song. Emphasis on blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas.

Give it a listen. you hear it, right?