"Christmas! Nukes! Judgement Day! You might not think they go together, but you'd be wrong!

Check out "Wierd Al" Yankovic's "Christmas at Ground Zero." If Brad Fiedel hadn't composed the Terminator theme music, this would no doubt have been the next best choice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGdrMOttV_s

Christmas at Ground Zero

It's Christmas at ground zero.
There's music in the air.
The slay bells are ringing,
And the carolers are singing,
While the air raid sirens blair.

It's Christmas at ground zero.
The button has been pressed.
The radio just let us know
That this is not a test.

Everywhere the atom bombs are droppin'.
It's the end of all humanity.
No more time for last minutes shoppin'.
It's time to face your final destiny.

It's Christmas at ground zero.
There's panic in the crowd.
We can dodge debris,
While we trim the tree,
Underneath a mushroom cloud.

You might hear some reindeer on your rooftop,
Or Jack Frost on your window sill.
But if someone's climbing down your chimney,
You better load your gun and shoot to kill.

It's Christmas at ground zero,
And if the radiation level's OK,
I'll go out with you and see all the new
Mutations on New Year's Day.

It's Christmas at ground zero.
Just seconds left to go.
I'll duck and cover with my yule-tide lover,
Underneath the mistletoe.

It's Christmas at ground zero.
Now the missles are on their way.
What a crazy fluke. We're gonna get nuked,
On this jolly holiday.

What a crazy fluke.
We're gonna get nuked,
On this jolly holiday."

"This one is for DEREK!!!

"Weird Al" Yankovic's "Cavity Search"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMwFZXujLJg"

"Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" (turn of the Century ragtime, but still appropriate):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMwFZXujLJg

George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" (Ferde Grofé's orchestration):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWH2OdC9WI8 (Part One)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddxuynM6q0k (Part Two)

"Rhapsody in Blue" is my favorite from that time period, bar none! "

"Thanks for the links, Cuckoo. Had forgotton about Scott Joplin and Gershwin, maybe we'll get to hear something from them in "Self-Made Man." Producer Josh Friedman definitely has an ear for appropriate musical selections.

OT, but that link to Randy Newman's "Political Science" got me to thinking about another novelty song that I haven't been able to track down anywhere - "Junkyard Rednecks," sung to the tune of "Teenage Wasteland." I only heard it once, years ago, and haven't been able to find it on YouTube. Know any other site that might have a quirky song like that?"

"Thanks again anyway, Cuckoo, and I'm amazed that I almost ran into you in real time!

About Neil Diamond, he was a remakable songwriter and composer, but most of his stuff was so maudlin that I could stomach it only in small doses - way too depressing. OK, I have a soft spot for "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show," but don't tell anyone ;-)

Still thinking about "Self-Made Man" though. What does a terminator in the 1920's without a mission do? Become a vaudeville entertainer? Had a brief flash of him linking up with the early Moe, Larry, and Curly - maybe that's where they learned their sucker-punching shtick..."