Of the four tunes that have so far been officially confirmed to be on the forthcoming Bob Dylan album, Christmas In the Heart, just one is set in Bethlehem. That one is Little Drummer Boy.

The song describes a boy who is told that he ought to go and bring his finest gifts to the “new born King.” He arrives to the stable, but has nothing to offer but a performance with his drum. Mary’s infant smiles up at him in return. It’s obviously a very simple song, appealing to children, and just possibly one with a special poignancy for someone whose gifts are of a musical variety.

I was wondering how long this song had been around, and researched it to find that it is credited to a woman named Katherine K. Davis, and dated to 1941. What may be the original sheet music entitles the song Carol of the Drum, and it also describes it as being “freely transcribed” from a Czech carol. A few lazy minutes of further googling does not reveal whether this is actually so, or what Czech carol it may be based upon. Clearly, if the words were in the Czech language, they would have had to be both translated and rewritten to some extent to result in the rhyming English song that we know. To what extent the song is the work of Katherine Davis or is traditional is therefore not clear. That’s a suitably Dylanesque history for a song on a Bob Dylan Christmas album anyhow.

It’s been recorded countless times, and most people would have seen the animated feature inspired by the song’s narrative which was made in 1968 and still airs fairly regularly around Christmastime.

One of the most famous renditions is a duet by Der Bingle and der Thin White Duke, from a TV special in 1977. The slightly bizarre juxtaposition of these two entertainers makes for a charming interlude. However, it’s not really a straight performance (no pun intended) of Little Drummer Boy. David Bowie soon breaks into a song specially written for the occasion as a counterpoint to the Little Drummer Boy melody (by Buz Kohan, Ian Fraser and Larry Grossman) entitled Peace On Earth. He and Bing Crosby sing the bridge of that song together:

Every child must be made aware
Every child must be made to care
Care enough for his fellow man
To give all the love that he can

I have to confess that I find this Peace On Earth song rather vapid. Maybe my antennae are over-extended, but what I detect is an attempt to de-Christianize the Little Drummer Boy song. That song may not be fine art, but at least it has the integrity of its little narrative — and it’s also not hitting you over the head with strangely authoritarian demands to go and compel every child “to care.”

I have nothing against David Bowie, and I love Bing Crosby more than Santa Claus himself, but given the choice I would prefer to take my Little Drummer Boy neat, with no chaser,

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