Brett Banter

For the 25 days leading into Christmas, Brett Inc. is talking music. Christmas music. Sit back and enjoy.

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer is one of those polarizing Christmas songs. The song is beloved in part because of the early 1960s Christmas special (complete with headlines from long , long defunct newspapers) that featured ahead of its time Claymation.

The song, though, sends sort of a missed message. Defenders see it as how even someone considered an outsider can find acceptance by being themselves. Others see the story as a cruel metaphor of life. People will ruthlessly mock you until they need you, which essentially is what happens to Rudolph.

Anyway, the real story here is the Dean Martin version of Rudolph where America’s top hepcat sounds about three sheets to the wind and for reasons only known to him affects a German accent halfway through the song.

Achtung!