Ring Out, Wild Bears

Once upon a time ago--it's been several years now--my dad was in church and he was conducting a meeting.  It was the new year and he was announcing the congregation would sing the traditional New Year hymn, Ring Out Wild Bells.  Because I come from a family who finds great amusement in the blunders of others (and ourselves), particularly speech blunders, when he made the classic r/l switch-up and instead said, "Ring out, wild bears"  we laaaughed and laughed.  And now, every time the new year rolls around and that song is inevitably sung, I think of this and laugh again, and I canNOT sing it the right way. It's always bears. And i sing the entire hymn like that.  So, at this dawn of a new year, allow me to share with you my preferred version, Ring Out, Wild Bears:

1. Ring out, wild bears, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light.
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bears, and let him die.

The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bears, and let him die.

2. Ring out the old; ring in the new.
Ring, happy bears, across the snow.
The year is going; let him go.
Ring out the false; ring in the true.
The year is going; let him go.
Ring out the false; ring in the true.

For Christmas last year I gave my dad an email a day for a whole year.  Though I didn't quite write every single day, i did ok and it was a great experience.  On Jan. 1 of 2012 I sent him the first email and paid tribute to his quote in the following excerpt:

We sang Ring Out, Wild Bears today. Did you get my text? It's reeeally really hard for me to NOT sing "bears,"  actually.  I am pretty sure i did today.  It's pretty funny to keep singing and keep the bear context. 

For example, "Ring out, wild bears, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light." It makes me think of bears in a frosty winter wonderland. Perhaps they are polar bears? Then, 'The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bears, and let him die."  So i picture polar bears at nighttime in a chorus of growls and moans, signaling the end of the year, as they do at this time each year.  They should do a nature show on this ritual. 

So great.  I am sure that if Alfred Tennyson had been made privy to this alternate version, he would have preferred it that way too.    Happy New Year everyone and ring out, ring out, all the wild bears.