Majorly English

If you couldn’t tell, that was a stirring rendition of the Yule classic, Feliz Navidad, played by a man who tragically was born without vocal chords or a soul. However, I’m not here to talk about sad, empty attempts to gain the attention, nay, the admiration of random sweaty strangers on the Internet by Youtubing their subpar guitar skills into their hearts. As an aside, I would like to lay claim to being the first person to ever verbalize the word “Youtube,” so when the Oxford English Dictionary decides that it belongs within its hallowed pages, I better get proper recognition, including but not limited to an oversized novelty check for a predetermined amount and the Oxford English Dictionary Word Selection Process Home Edition. Aside concluded.

Feliz Navidad, for those of you who hate Mexicans, means “Merry Christmas” in Spanish. Yes, a song about Christmas named “Merry Christmas” exists, but it’s in a foreign language, so that makes it fun and exotic, like when you take Grandma to Chi-Chi’s and she orders fried ice cream. From the Feliz Navidad Wikipedia article (what, you’re surprised?)

“Feliz Navidad” is a Christmas song written in 1970 by the Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano. With its simple Spanish language chorus (the traditional Christmas/New Year greeting, “Feliz navidad, prospero año y felicidad” or “properous year and happiness”) and equally simple English verse (”I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart”), it has become a classic Christmas pop song in the USA and throughout the Spanish-speaking world. In the song’s original recording, Feliciano plays a Puerto Rican cuatro in the background.

Various artists have covered “Feliz Navidad”, including Boney M^[1], Céline Dion^[2], The Cheetah Girls^[3], and Jaci Velasquez^[4] but any year, at Christmas time, the original José Feliciano version of “Feliz Navidad” is one of the most downloaded and aired Christmas songs in the USA. It was also recognized by ASCAP as one of the top 25 most played and recorded Christmas songs around the world. The song is popular in Spanish Speaking countries.

I think it’s important to note that Celine Dion, a French-Canadian, found it appropriate to sing a song that is half in Spanish. I imagine her next Christmas album will include her adaptation of Christmas in Hollis.

OK, so Feliz Navidad is a “classic Christmas pop song.” However, to me, the most impressive part of this entire song is its unbelievable efficiency. To recap, here is a listing of all the different words found in this 3 minute song:

1. Feliz
2. Navidad
3. Prospero
4. Ano (I can’t figure out how to add the tilde on top of the “n” to make this say “year” in Spanish, so you will have to settle for the Spanish word for “anus.” Feliz Navidad!)
5. Y
6. Felicidad
7. I
8. Want
9. To
10. Wish
11. You
12. A
13. Merry
14. Christmas
15. From
16. The
17. Bottom
18. Of
19. My
20. Heart

That is it. 20 different words. And three of them consist of only one letter! Most popular songs these days are made up of thousands of words and millions of letters, but Senor Feliciano managed to pull it off with a tad more than a baker’s dozen. Such frugal wordsmithing the world has never seen.