The Christmas season carries with it a rich musical heritage. There is of course the long tradition of liturgical music and hymns associated with the religious festivals, along with more modern takes on the increasingly commercialized ethos of what we now know as the "holidays." In fact, to the consternation of some, "Christmas music" has become ever harder to avoid from at least late October to late December as it is ubiquitously broadcast on radio, television, online, and in-store sound platforms.
It should come as no surprise that pop and rock musicians would get in on the Christmas act. Many performers have covered both traditional and non-traditional Christmas standards, from "O Holy Night" to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." Some of these are admittedly tongue-in-cheek, while others are more earnest attempts. Occasionally, they border on the surreal and have involved some rather unlikely musical pairings. After all, who ever thought to put Bowie and Bing in a room together for a holiday duet of "The Little Drummer Boy"? On paper, it shouldn't work, but for better or worse, the results are modern a Christmas classic (as is Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly's hilariously deadpan parody).
Or, as I recently discovered through some digital archaeology, members of Thin Lizzy and the Sex Pistols once performed under the name "Greedies" a (rather rocking) medley of Christmas classics live of British television. See it for yourself!
As for original Christmas compositions, some of the greatest songwriters of all time have made attempts, including both Lennon and McCartney, with mixed and sometimes annoying results. In other cases the results have been downright peculiar. The recently deceased proto-progger Greg Lake, of ELP and King Crimson, wrote what essentially amounts to an anti-Christmas song called "I Believe in Father Christmas."
They sold me a dream of Christmas
They sold me a silent night
And they told me a fairy story
'Till I believed in the Israelite
And I believed in father Christmas
And I looked to the sky with excited eyes
'Till I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn
And I saw him and through his disguise
Whereas others, such as the ever enigmatic Chris De Burgh, delve into somewhat speculative territory with "A Spaceman Came Travelling," which re-imagines the nativity as...um...an alien visitation.
A spaceman came travelling on his ship from afar,
'Twas light years of time since his mission did start,
And over a village he halted his craft,
And it hung in the sky like a star, just like a star
Not to be outdone, even punk, that most anarchic and anti-traditional of musical movements, has gotten into the Christmas spirit. Who better than the Ramones to add "Merry Christmas (I don't wanna fight tonight)" to the yuletide playlist.
The excessive '80s heard Wham's now classic "Last Christmas" as well as Band Aid's increasingly odd sounding "Do They Know it's Christmas," released as a fund raiser for Ethiopian famine. Then, of course, there was Run DMC's "Christmas in Hollis."
As for the 1990s, well, they brought us this...
If God came down on Christmas Day
I know exactly what He'd say
He'd say "Oi to the punks and Oi to the skins-
But Oi to the world and everybody wins!"
All of these efforts result in some rather curious additions to the holiday songbook. Still, they reveal the on-going intersection between the sacred and the secular in new, interesting, if not always pleasing, ways. One can only imagine what future ear-worms will emerge from the Christmas musical catalogue.
