"The Ten Christmas Songs of Steve Pulaski"
Song #6: Gayla Peevey - "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" (1953)
"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" - Single
"Mom says the hippo would eat me up, but then, teacher says the hippo is a vegetarian."
I was working late at the liquor store late on Christmas Eve; it was around 7pm and we still had two more hours to go on what had already been a taxing and absolutely exhausting day. The Christmas vibes were in full swing, with people coming in with Christmas attire on, snow on the ground, and Christmas music blaring over the store's radio, cycling through what seemed to be an equal mesh of tolerable Christmas tunes and insufferable ones. Suddenly, one came on the radio I had never even heard of, and the music-recognition app Shazam informed me it was Gayla Peevey's 1953 novelty tune "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas." Now this was my kind of Christmas song.
The song is clearly a product of the fifties, from the occasionally-scratchy, sensitive microphone being utilized to the classic instrumentation of the song, which has trumpets blaring at several moments in the song. The song featured a ten-year-old Peevey singing about how the only thing she wants for Christmas is a hippopotamus, to feed, wash, and massage, despite the potential dangers and the overall improbability of living with a hippo, as told by her mother.
The song perfectly captures the asinine gifts you want when you're young, whether they be the hottest toy on the market that year or, on the other hand, something completely unrealistic or silly. It's when your imagination takes over your rational thinking, and you become entranced with asking for the most ridiculous thing just because you have a free pass. However, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" is made such a wonderful song not just by its themes and its qualities relatable to children with overactive imaginations, but Peevey's unique singing voice, only emphasized and exploited in the best possible way when set to such large and infectious orchestration.
This is one of the most peculiar Christmas classics in a blue moon, rarely occupying the same breath as other holiday staples, but this one's hilarity and goofiness needs to be more formally recognized and seen as a great addition to the holiday season.
Give "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjwiwcUKK1c
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