“He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good.” Most folks recognize these lines from the “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” lyrics written by Haven Gillespie. Some folks find the image a bit disturbing. These days, a man who watches children sleep is probably going to need to register with the local law enforcement.
It might have been acceptable, and respectable, when this song was written back in the 1930’s, for a grown man to secretly track children’s sleep and behavior patterns. It might have been fine for him to wear a bright red uniform with white fur trim. Even being overly jolly might not have raised an eyebrow. But we’re a jaded lot, these days. We’re the ones who drive our children a block to the bus stop to keep them safe. “Helicopter parenting” is a thing, now. A creepy man who breaks into the homes of children to reward them for good behavior and adequate sleep is just not going to be accepted for long.
But how about the Sandman? Not only does he keep track of kids sleeping, if they’re not asleep when they should be, he throws sand in their eyes to make them sleep! And, he controls their dreams. I don’t even think he’s jolly. He may reward good behavior, though. In Hans Christian Anderson’s story, he carried two umbrellas. The one for good children had fantastic pictures on the underside and was held over their faces while they slept to give them wonderous dreams. Bad children got the blank umbrella, and dreamless sleep. So there.
Sandman certainly isn’t as popular as Santa, but he did get at least one song: “Mr. Sandman”, written by Pat Ballard. It was recorded by a host of performers, including the Chordettes 1954 version which made it to the number one spot on Billboard’s charts. If you’re unfamiliar with the lyrics, “Mr Sandman, bring me a dream…” is a request for the Sandman to bring a real-life man (or woman, according to who is singing) worthy of one’s dreams. Aside from the amazing assortment of artists who’ve recorded the track, and the possibility that it inspired the later, “Please Mr. Postman” lyrics, the Sandman song is still just a single, while Santa gets albums full of songs about him.
Even so, the next time you wipe the sleep out of your eyes, or hear any one of the “Mr. Sandman” versions, you may want to consider: was my sleep full of wondrous dreams with fantastic images? or was it it blank and dreamless? I mean, I’m sure Santa and the Sandman compare notes, and if you have no dreams, you may want to buy yourself a coal-burner in time for Christmas.
Random Word of the Week 