"the 12 days of christmas" is the most savage christmas song in the world imo

Feels longer than it probably actually is.

Lends itself to the worst parodies (save bob & doug, obv)

take off, you hoser

The Twin Peaks cast recording of this is still the best

The lack of responses here may be because people actually agree.

I mean, I know that song mainly from English lessons and Christmas compilations as it isn't part of the tradition in Norway, but it is indeed a really horrible song.

nick
fucking
knowles

am i crazy for thinking this song is basically p glass-style minimalism?

bear with:
each verse begins and ends with the same two bars in standard time ("on the first day of xmas/my true love gave to me" and "a partridge in a pear tree" respectively). each of the subsequent verses adds the same melodic phrase (this time in 3 instead of 4). the last iteration of the this repeated phrase gets an extra beat with the pick up note (this time "AND a partridge in a pear tree").

change comes at verse five with the intro of the five golden rings, itself 2 bars of four. the same melodic phrase used to introduce days/verses 2-4 instead is used for days/verses 6-12. the run from 5 down to 2 takes on a new melodic pattern, but that now-changed pattern will remain the same for the duration.

so basically each verse just gets longer and longer with a repetition of a 3 beat phrase added for each verse (change at verse 5 being the exception) all bookended by the same 2-bar intro and outro.

Not as good as "Green Grow the Rushes, O"