Hello, Party-goers! Time to pull out the garland, deck the halls, and put some jingle bells on your sleigh because we are going o’er some hills and laughing all the way with our guest David M.
Yes, David returns with a fresh batch of Christmas tunes to help Mary and Dave find their true Christmas Spirit!
So, with that preamble out of the way, here is this episode’s fine selection of songs:
- Kate Rusby – Big Brave Bill Saves Christmas – Angels and Men, 2017
- The Killers (feat. Dawes) – “Christmas in L.A.” – single, 2013
- Tracey Thorn – “Joy” – Tinsel and Lights, 2012
- John Legend with Stephen Colbert – “Nutmeg” – A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!, 2008
- Sparks – “Christmas Without a Prayer” – single, 2015
- Sting – “Bethlehem Down” – If on a Winter’s Night…, 2009
- Argent – “Christmas for Free” – single, 1973
- Dwight Twilley – Christmas Night – Have a Twilley Christmas, 2005
- The Christmas Jug Band – “Santa Lost a Ho” – Uncorked, 2002
- Aimee Mann and Michael Penn – “Christmas Time” – from the soundtrack to Hard Eight, 1996
- John Prine – “Silent Night All Day Long” – A John Prine Christmas, 1994
- Sam Ulano – “Santa and the Doodle-I-Boop” – single, 1955
- Natalie McMaster and Alison Kraus – “Get Me Through December” – In My Hands, 1999
- Eels – “Christmas Is Going to the Dogs” – Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 2000
- Mel Blanc – “I Tan’t Wait Till Quithmuth Day” – single, 1953
- No Fun – “Elf Toymaker” – The Five Wenceslases, 2015
- The Cast of Futurama – The Elf Song (The Elves Have Rescued Christmas) – “A Tale of Two Santas”, 2001
- Robin Gibb – “Noel” – My Favourite Christmas Carols, 2006
Thanks for listening. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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Thanks for another enjoyable genre-spanning line-up of obscure Christmas songs!
My favourite was “Santa Lost a Ho” and I’m not a big fan of Santa songs (except maybe “Santa Baby” which is more about the singer and her gold-digging ways than Santa.) I played it for my mom and sister and they got a kick out of it. I’d give it 4 out of 5 HOs, which is 2 more HOs than Santa has in this song.
“Bethlehem Down?” More like Bethlehem Downer, am I right? “When He is King they will clothe Him in grave-sheets, Myrrh for embalming, and wood for a crown.” I’m not inviting Sting to sing at any baby showers soon. The tune is nice though. I’m not a big fan of mentioning death in Christmas carols, although I have voluntarily performed “The Coventry Carol” at concerts which is also on Sting’s If On A Winter’s Night album. It’s kind of dismal too, what with Herod ordering children to be slayed and all.
Say, before David D said it, I was thinking “Iko Iko” during the verse of “Christmas Is Going to the Dogs” Our choir is singing it in the New Year so it is top of mind.
I enjoyed the two Elf songs. Yesterday, as I was driving to the airport to pick up some relatives, a Barenaked Ladies song came on the radio that I’ve learned is called “The Elf’s Lament” featuring Michael Buble (2004). I’d never heard it before. I’m a big fan of internal rhymes so I liked it a lot. It’s another example of the sub-genre I’m calling “songs of the working elf.”
Here’s my orphan holiday song for the fictional 60s folk group David, Mary and David. It is (loosely) sung to the tune of “Be Thou My Vision” but in the great interchangeability tradition of hymn lyrics, it could also be (loosely) sung to “Bethlehem Down.” My Advent gift to you…
Christmas is coming so be of good cheer
The second-most sacred time of the church year
Though the Christ’s birth is a major event
Easter is bigger by quite a percent.
There on the altar, there lies a wreath green
Three purple candles and one pink are seen
Hope, Peace, Joy, Love are what they represent
Light the wrong ones and you’ll ruin Ad-vent.
Those new to church, here are things that we hate:
Folks who make change in the offering plate
People who clap for the choir’s anth-em,
Or Pass the Peace when their chest’s full of phlegm
Someone has stolen Jo-seph from the crèche
Bread for Communion? It’s nowhere near fresh.
Sitting four weeks in hard pews is a pain
But next year we’ll gladly do it all again.
Both of these Christmas shows were a pure delight. What a fantastic range of music chosen by David M, from the sublime (Kate Rusby, Lyle Lovett) to the bizarre (Sting, Robin Gibb) and with plenty of stuff I’d never heard before along the way. That’s quite enough Tracey Thorn though.
I’m totally with David M on the Killers. Didn’t expect to like them, but once they mentioned Carmelita, I was sold. And the conversation about Bethlehem Down helped me listen past the vocals to appreciate the quality of the composition.
Many thanks to all three of you, and happy Boxing Day when it arrives!