God Rest Ye Merry Gents - Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
Sharon Jones died last month. This is the last song on her xmas album and the only one that lacks her voice.
When I think about Sharon Jones, I think about Bettye LaVette, who is ten years older. At an outdoor blues festival several summers ago, she smirked at her audience and told us, "I'm so glad you all could join me to celebrate my overnight success... After forty years in show business". She was wearing high heels and danced to high hell, her sinewy senior's limbs lashing in time to her lyrics. We were all sweating in the sun. I think she was happy that we were finally paying attention to her. I wonder if Bettye LaVette feels a bit cheated, though, knowing that no one listened like this when she was young. Knowing that she has, at most, a few decades to draw such crowds.
I'd always heard this song, when it includes lyrics, as , but I learned today that it'a actuallyIn any given decade, I suppose I'd choose merriment over rest. I hope we get enough time for both.
