Penquin, James Penquin
Christmas eve dinner 2021 will forever be remembered as the night I learned my two oldest children remember the words to every Brad Paisley song I played on CDs in the car from 2006–2011. Last night at dinner we had music playing on SIRI when the Christmas Classic James Penquin came on. Our youngest son- now 16- said “WHAT is this song?” The two eldest children — now 20 and 22 — quickly responded “James Penquin” and launched into
“He’s Penguin, James Penguin
That dapper little guy
Like a well dressed duck in a three piece tux
He’s Santa’s secret spy”
As the song continued the three of us sang all the words to the entire song, The conversation that ensued went something like this….
eldest son — “you were too young to remember when all Mom played in the car was her three Brad Paisley CDs.”
daughter — “Ya, those years that all Mom played was 6 Brad songs on repeat. It was all we heard in the 20 minutes we were in the car to anywhere. Before Mom was all about Kenny and Keith she was ALL about Brad”
eldest son — “Don’t you remember that Mom had James Penquin as her ringtone? And that “Born On Christmas Day” song?”
daughter — “Oh yeah -the one when he is young and then it’s his current voice?” And she pulls up the song on her phone and we all listen to a young Brad Paisley.
eldest son — “Brian- you were too young but those were my formative years. Those lyrics are locked in my brain forever” And then my normally reserved eldest son launches into what my daughter called an aggressive singing of…
“Live From New York It’s Saturday Night. And it’s a French kiss, Italian ice
Spanish moss in the moonlight. Live From New York It’s Saturday Night”
Meanwhile I am dying with laughter and my heart is full. The joy of your children growing into adults is that while you will always see the child inside, you see them grow and see their sibling relationship mature. What I saw and heard at the dinner table last night was the best Christmas gift they could ever give me. That and the singing of this all time classic
“Well the reindeer pull the sleigh
And the elves make the toys
Those are the stories that are well known to all
Little girls and boys
But I’ve got another story
That I bet you haven’t heard
Did you know that Santa
Has a secret agent bird
He’s Penguin, James Penguin
That dapper little guy
Like a well dressed duck in a three piece tux
He’s Santa’s secret spy
Have you ever wondered
How Santa keeps tabs
How he knows when you’ve been good
How he knows when you’ve been bad
He’s Penguin, James Penguin
That dapper little guy
Like a well dressed duck in a three piece tux
He’s Santa’s secret spy
From an undisclosed location
He’s watching me and you
He’s got satellite uplinks in his cufflinks
Yeah he sees everything you do
He’s Penguin, James Penguin
That dapper little guy
Like a well dressed duck in a three piece tux
He’s Santa’s secret spy
Not so very long ago
Santa didn’t need much help
But with more and more kids every year
He soon got overwhelmed
He told the elves one Christmas
We can’t do this anymore
Then a knight in shining polyester
Waddled through his door
And it was Penguin, James Penguin
He was there to save the day
He had wireless
And GPS outfitted on the sleigh
And Santa said Penguin
Won’t you be my ears and eyes
How’d you like to help me run
My SCFBI
He’s Penguin, James Penguin
And now I guess you’ve heard
How Santa got his little Christmas
Secret Agent Bird”
