I have been a little behind in my offerings here so I thought, before the year ends, I’d slip in something that’s not strictly of the Yuletide but nonetheless appropriate to the season and the new year.  It’s Count Your Blessings by Irving Berlin from the 1954 movie White Christmas.

White Christmas enjoys a cult status in our house – we believe that it is a fugue of ridiculousness that is near perfection – but apart from all that, Count Your Blessings stands on its own as a lovely song.  I remember learning the lyrics and singing it around a big upright piano as a Cub Scout in preparation for some program.

Several decades later, I still like it.  It is one of those pop tunes that’s frequently lumped into Christmas collections, but I play it throughout the year and find that people still enjoy hearing it.  Nice melody, nice chords, and lyrics that, while sentimental, remain applicable.  Thankfully.  Happy New Year.  Click on the title in red to hear it.  The lyrics are below.

When I’m worried and I can’t sleep

I count my blessings instead of sheep

And I fall asleep counting my blessings.

When my bankroll is getting small

I think of when I had none at all

And I fall asleep counting my blessings.

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads

And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds.

If you’re worried and you can’t sleep

Just count your blessings instead of sheep

And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings.