For example, listen to Londo Mollari’s attempt from this Babylon 5 clip:
Okay, so most people don’t try to find meaning in the Hokey Pokey. But they do try to find it in other seeming innocent places. Take for instance the below song:
On the first day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the second day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the third day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the fourth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the fifth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the sixth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the seventh day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the eighth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.
On the ninth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the tenth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Ten Lords a Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the eleventh day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Eleven Pipers Piping
Ten Lords a Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
On the twelfth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
12 Drummers Drumming
Eleven Pipers Piping
Ten Lords a Leaping
Nine Ladies Dancing
Eight Maids a Milking
Seven Swans a Swimming
Six Geese a Laying
Five Golden Rings
Four Calling Birds
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
The Hokey Pokey at least uses items that seem seductively familiar to us all. But the images in The 12 Days of Christmas aren’t a part of the every day any longer for most of us, if they ever were familiar to the regular, ordinary person. So, obviously there must be some meaning to them. Or must there.
One of the popular attempts is to make it a catechism for persecuted Catholics in England, though Wikipedia describes it as one of many unfounded derivations.
Something seldom considered, is that the images might be from an entirely different cosmology. as C.S. Lewis in the Discarded Image noted, that image, “the Medieval synthesis itself, the whole organization of their theology, science and history into a single, complex, harmonious mental model of the universe,” gave them a unique perspective on the world, a way of seeing the same things we see differently than we see them.
What is often missed, is that means we also have a cosmology that sees and interprets those same things.
So is there a meaning to the song, and if so, from which cosmology? Is it important to find out?
The quest for meaning of a song like the 12 Days is an attempt to find meaning in small things, when most of the people questing haven’t found the meaning in the big things. If you don’t have a clue about the big framework, you aren’t likely to come to a workable meaning to something this small. Unless, like Londo, you expect this simple song to tell you “that’s what its all about”.
At The Rainbow 
Hi, for some reason the blog of /chris Martin doesn’t accept my reply to your reaction, where you mentioned a negative church experience concerning your daughter.
I would like to reply to it.
If I could, I’d undo this experience. For your own freedom and to get rid of its negative energy in your mind (as you still feel the pain): forgive ignorance and dumbness. For the freedom of your daughter:(she is still in pain as she doesn’t dare to participate anymore) explain that other people’s negative sayings can never diminish what she is: of great value. Don’t allow that she continues life thinking otherwise. Give her a new chance to find courage and dare to be what she deserves to be: her unique self. That’s what she was made for.
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