White Christmas was written by Irving Berlin.
And, according to his daughter and NPR, it's both areligious and an immigrant song:
..."It's very evocative: the snow, the Christmas card, the sleigh, the sleigh bells," she says. "It's very evocative, and it's entirely secular."
Christmas was not exactly a holiday that Irving Berlin grew up celebrating. He was born in Russia, the son of a cantor, and his first language was Yiddish.
Emmet says that her father's experience as an immigrant in America led him to conclude that Christmas was not as much a religious holiday as a cultural one.
"As a Russian Jewish immigrant, when he came to the United States, Christmas was an American holiday to him," she says. "It was like every American holiday. It was a fresh, new experience for him."....
Who'd a thunk it.
Me, I just felt the need to think of the snowy season given how grey Lotusland has been, on and off, the last few days...
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