Sweet Chthulhu, has there been a better holiday song in the last twenty years? Don't make me come out there and hurt you.
Good dog, is there a sweeter voice than Kirsty MacColl's? (I saw her singing with Midge Ure once, before her untimely demise. In the midst of life, etc. etc.)
Is there an uglier mother than Shane McGowan?
I was more than a bit down his week. I put on my christmas playlist tonight, and poured (several) glasses of wine. As you might imagine, the tunes may have been short on the standards, but plenty of good alternative stuff. The Chieftains, Bruce Cockburn, Barenaked Ladies, They Might Be Giants, Mojo Nixon.... lots of other good stuff, even more non-traditional stylee....
The Payolas, Christmas is Coming. The Pretenders, 2000 Miles. I listened to David Bowie and Bing Crosby singing the Little Drummer Boy while I was watching war pictures on the news. XTC, Thanks For Christmas. Low. Weird Al, even (Christmas At Ground Zero. Maybe not so funny after 2001; maybe even better). Trans-Siberian Orchestra, yes and I won't apologize. The Kinks and ELP. Cracker, Merry Christmas Emily. Carnival Art, Bring A Torch Jeannette Isabella; Queen. Los Lobos. Ramones, Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight). Cocteau Twins. Sarah McLachlan. Timbuk 3, All I want For Christmas (is World Peace). Yes, even Geldof and Band Aid, bite me already.
O so much more, over 200 songs. Blue Girl and Neddie Jingo. Henry Rollins doing Night Before Christmas. A Rounder Records sampler. Spinal Tap and MightyMighty Bosstones. If I could work out a clean cassette-to-digital transfer, I would have a superb local band, the Mighty (Rein)Deerlick doing Bells To The Wall.
I was more than a bit down this week. Perhaps unexpectedly, this odd assortment of noises... has made me feel better. You know, the artists all did their songs earnestly, very little irony involved (except maybe Wall of Voodoo's Shouldn't Have Given Him A Gun For Christmas). Even for a pathetic embittered atheist, honest expressions of love, hope and peace can be soothing. Healing.
I was more than a bit down this week, this month, this fall, this year. As ever it seems , I find help and solace in music. As my son's Spamalot shirt says, I'm not dead yet.
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