Christmas Price Index chose the items in the popular Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" as its market basket: a partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds, five gold(en) rings, six geese, seven swans, eight maids, nine dancing ladies, ten leaping lords, eleven pipers, and twelve drummers. According to tradition, the purchasing of the items begins on December 26 and ends on January 6. PNC compiles both a "Christmas Price Index" and "The True Cost of Christmas." The "Christmas Price Index" is calculated by adding the cost of the items in the song. The "True
These Are the Days (Van Morrison song) These Are the Days (Van Morrison song) "These Are the Days" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and released on his 1989 album "Avalon Sunset". It was released as the B-side of the single with "Orangefield" as the A-side. The opening verse of the song is a recurring factor in Morrison's music and lyrics, the belief that the predominant sense of enjoyment and appreciation of life is to be found in the present moment: Biographer John Collis writes that this final song pulls together all the concerns of the album: "These Are the Days" replaces "Caravan"