WHAT’S SO FUNNY:What rhymes with ‘yule’?

In a play I saw some years ago, a guy named Joe remarks that a short road to success would be to write a Christmas song, because if it’s a hit, it resurfaces every year. One good Christmas song, Joe said, could support you for life.

At this point, another character, a sullen sort, says, “I think Christmas is a crock of s__t.”

Whereupon Joe replies brightly, “There’s your title!”

It’s true that a good Christmas song is annual money in the bank. The tricky part, which Joe glided over, is making it good.

Example: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was written for the movie “Meet Me in St. Louis” by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. Originally, the lyric was melancholy, to fit the context of its spot in the film. But Judy Garland, whose job it was to sing it, had an objection:

“I love the song, but it’s too sad. If that lyric is sad and I’m sad on top of it … they’re going to be leaving the theater.”

Blane rewrote the lyric and we’ve been listening to it ever since. (Garland anecdote from Hugh Fordin’s book “The World of Entertainment.”)

Last Saturday at the high school, the Lagunatunes presented their now-annual free Christmas choral concert and, along with such composers’ annuities as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” sang “The Man with the Bag,” “Joy to the World,” “Deck the Halls” and selections from “The Messiah.”

As always, Christin Cornell conducted the classical or canonical pieces, and Roxanna Ward led from the piano on the more pop and jazz-oriented material, including Vince Guaraldi’s beautiful “Christmastime Is Here.”

There was comedy with Pat Kollenda singing her “Twelve Days after Christmas” specialty and engaging in some spirited bickering with Roxanna over the conducting of the chorus in a selection from “The Nutcracker Suite.”

And there were sparkling solos from Ginger Hatfield, Patti Jo Kiraly, Randy Hatfield, Kymberly LeMon and Lisa Morrice. It’s unfortunate that my assessment of Patti Jo’s performance will be dismissed by some due to the similarity in our names.

Most of all, there was the music itself. These are great songs, I realized that night — and they are annual songs. They reminded me so forcibly of those words of Joe’s that one of my upcoming New Year’s resolutions is to write a yuletide song myself, to be available by this time next year.

I’ve already got the hook; it’s about Christmas. Now all I need are the words, the tune, the chords, the tempo and the title. Any fool should be able to write a Christmas song in 12 months.

And I’m not just any fool.