Tonight, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will induct the class of 2011: Darlene Love, Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Tom Waits, Leon Russell and record executives Jac Holzman and Art Rupe. Darlene Love was the voice for several great hits for Phil Spector that were labeled under the groups the Crystals, the Blossoms, and Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans. For her performance at the induction, she said she plans to perform “He’s a Rebel,” “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” and “(Today I Met) the Boy I’m Gonna Marry.”
I hope she performs a Christmas song. Her song, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” is one of the greatest songs of all time. David Letterman has featured her performing the song on his show every December since 1986 (with one year showing a repeat performance). She has had a great career, with a possible new album and a movie of her life on the way. But I never tire of hearing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” even if it is March.
Bonus Inductee Video: Tom Waits singing “Hold On.”
Who is your favorite among this year’s inductees? What song do you want to hear them perform? Leave a comment.
The truce created by common soldiers during one World War I Christmas has inspired artists such as Paul McCartney and Garth Brooks.
On Christmas day in 1914, peace broke out on the battlefield among common soldiers. Several artists have interpreted the World War I Christmas Truce, including folksinger John McCutcheon (“Christmas in the Trenches“). Two of the biggest recording artists in history — Paul McCartney and Garth Brooks — have also incorporated the historical event into their work.
Although the songs about the truce ignore some of the nuances of the historical record, there is only so much one may do in a three-minute song. But many artists have used the historical event to create powerful art.
The Christmas Morning Truce
On Christmas morning in 1914 at several places along the trenches, an informal peace broke out among the troops. At some places, German troops started singing carols, and then the British joined in. Soon, some of the soldiers began showing themselves, and the enemies met in no-man’s land to exchange food and cigarettes, and in some places they played soccer.
The truce occurred spontaneously at different locations with different men. And it is estimated that more than 100,000 British, French, and German soldiers participated.
Reactions to the Informal Truce
But the World War I leaders on both sides did not appreciate the common soldiers’ truce. Many days later, after word spread about the Christmas Truce, officers ordered that soldiers who possessed gifts from the enemy would be punished. At many places along the lines, the leadership broke up groups who participated in the truce and transferred the men elsewhere along the front lines.
The following year, there would again be some informal truces, but due to pressure from the officers and due to the increasing brutality of the war, the 1915 truces were not nearly as widespread as the 1914 truces. The moment of peace had passed.
Paul McCartney’s “Pipes of Peace”
The video to Paul McCartney’s 1983 song, “Pipes of Peace” — from the album of the same name — shows a dramatization of the truce. In the video, we see English Paul and German Paul meeting on the battlefield. (Fortunately, none of the Pauls from the “Coming Up” video appear).
The lyrics of “Pipes of Peace” do not describe the Christmas Truce and are vague enough to be used either as an anti-war song or a love song. It is sort of like “Love is All You Need.”
In “Pipes of Peace,” Paul sings: “All round the world little children being born to the world/ Got to give them all we can till the war is won / Then will the work be done.”
Garth Brooks and “Belau Wood”
By contrast, in Garth Brooks’s 1997 “Bellau Wood” — from one of his last pre-retirement albums, Sevens (1997) — the lyrics directly describe the Christmas Truce. The story is a fictionalized version of the truce set at the location of a later 1918 World War I battle.
Brooks describes the peace starting with someone singing “Silent Night”: “As we lay there in our trenches / The silence broke in two/ By a German soldier singing / A song that we all knew.” But in the end, the message is similar to the message of the McCartney song:
But for just one fleeting moment The answer seemed so clear Heaven’s not beyond the clouds It’s just beyond the fear
No, heaven’s not beyond the clouds It’s for us to find it here
Brooks has talked about how emotional it is for him to sing the song, so much so that often when he is asked to perform it in concert he performs a shorter version of the song so he can get through it without tearing up. I recall an official video of the Garth Brooks song “Bellau Wood,” but it does not seem to be available on the Internet. You may hear the song with a fan video below.
The Film Joyeux Noel and a Book
Not surprisingly, others have written about the truce in books. An excellent 2005 French movie is based on the truce, Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas). Also, a nonfiction book by Stanley Weintraub called Silent Night tells the real story in more detail.
Although the movie Joyeux Noel is a fictionalized account of the truce, it does a good job of portraying the reaction to the truce, something that is often overlooked in the sweet versions of the story.
In Weintraub’s book, he described how the High Command on both sides were not happy, but “many troops had discovered through the truce that the enemy, despite the best efforts as propagandists, were not monsters. Each side had encountered men much like themselves, drawn from the same walks of life — and led, alas, by professionals who saw the world through different lenses.”
At the end of his book, the author wonders what the world would be like today had the informal truce led to an immediate end of the war that was just beginning.
Although the leaders’ reactions against the truce show the darker and realistic side of war, the fact that the truce took place at all is somewhat hopeful for our species. When France dedicated a WWI Christmas Truce memorial in 2008, German and French soldiers played a game of football (soccer) where their predecessors had played in 1914. This time, the peace endured.
Snoopy and The Red Baron
Finally, here is one more song that incorporates the WWI truce, featuring someone more famous than Paul McCartney and Garth Brooks: Snoopy.
In this holiday season and in the upcoming year, may you understand that your enemies are not so different from you. Peace to all the world and good will to men and women. Happy holidays.
[November 2014 Update: The grocery store chain Sainsbury incorporated the Christmas truce story into a commercial.] Which song do you prefer? Leave a comment.
In what is now known as “The ’68 Comeback Special,” what was originally conceived as a Christmas special ended up with only one holiday song, “Blue Christmas.”
It was the Christmas television special that never was. Peter Guralnick explained in his wonderful two-volume biography of Elvis Presley how Elvis’s famous 1968 “Comeback Special” started with the idea of a holiday special. But it turned into something completely different.
By the late 1960’s, Elvis had become largely irrelevant to the current music scene. In recent years he had spent his time in a wasteland of movies of declining quality.
For a change in strategy, Colonel Parker negotiated a deal with NBC for a TV special around the holidays. And Parker envisioned it as a Christmas special.
But Elvis and Steve Binder, the director of the program, had something else in mind. They designed the special in a way to reestablish Elvis as a relevant music artist.
The special featured several big set productions and an outstanding closing number written just for Elvis. But the centerpiece of the special featured Elvis in black leather singing out the raw blues of his early work — both in stand-up and sit-down segments.
Binder recorded two sit-down sessions with Elvis on June 27, 1968 for the December TV special. Both versions of “Blue Christmas” are available on DVD. In one of the sessions, Elvis also sang “Santa Claus Is Back in Town,” but it was not used in the show.
The special, promoted as “Elvis” but now known as The ’68 Comeback Special, was a turning point in Presleys career. It relaunched him as a relevant music artist who would soon record such great songs as “Suspicious Minds.”
“Blue Christmas”
In the special, which was broadcast on December 3, 1968, Binder agreed to allow only one Christmas song in the show. The song was “Blue Christmas,” which Elvis had first recorded in 1957.
Elvis’s 1957 rock and roll performance defined “Blue Christmas.” But the song had been recorded almost a decade earlier in 1948 by Ernest Tubb. One of the most recent covers of the song was released by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band with a horn section on a fun version of “Blue Christmas.”
One can see why Binder allowed this one holiday song in the 1968 special. “Blue Christmas” is steeped in the blues, and Presley knocks it out of the park.
Watching the performance feels like being in the living room jamming with the greatest singer in the world. The King had returned.
Bonus Ranking: See where “Blue Christmas” ranks among the top depressing holiday songs of all time here.
Bonus History Trivia: This week in 1957, Elvis was at Graceland celebrating the holidays when he received his draft notice on December 20, 1957.
The previous post on Three Depressing Holiday Songs got us started thinking about the best depressing holiday songs. So, this post features Chimesfreedom’s Top Ten Depressing Holiday Songs. We selected these top 10 based upon three categories. Points were given for (1) deep depression and sadness; (2) quality of song; and (3) familiarity of the song.
(1)“Fairytale of New York” – The Pogues: Scored high in all three categories. Discussed in previous post in more detail, but all you really need is the opening line of the song: “It was Christmas Eve, babe,/ In the drunk tank.” Score: 97 points.
(2) “Blue Christmas” – Elvis Presley, etc.: Gets high on the list because very familiar and a good song, but the music is not that sad. For more, we discussed the story behind Elvis Presley’s most famous performance of the song. Score: 93 points.
(3) “The River” – Joni Mitchell (and covers): Received most of its points from the deep depression category with both depressing lyrics and music. Discussed in previous post in more detail. Score: 91 points.
(4) “Pretty Paper” – Roy Orbison: The lyrics to “Pretty Paper,” which was written by a young songwriter named Willie Nelson in 1963, are a little vague. But a guy is alone on the sidewalk hoping “that you won’t pass him by.” “You’re in a hurry” so you leave him there crying as people laugh in the distance. You suck. Anyway, it has Roy Orbison’s voice, which automatically puts it high on the sounding-sad scale. If he sang “Jingle Bells” it would make this list. Score: 89 points.
(5) “Do They Know It Is Christmas?” – Band Aid: Very famous and depressing: “Where nothing ever grows/ No rain or rivers flow.” And then there is Bono wailing, “Tonight thank God it’s them instead of yooooooooooooo!” “Do They Know It’s Christmas” would be higher on the list, but by the end we are happily singing “Feed the world” and letting people know it is Christmas Time whether they want to know it or not. But while it did raise money for a good cause, the song has an extra tinge of sadness because it also reminds us that we did not find a solution to hunger in the 26 years since the song was released. We mock, but we love the song. Just avoid the two remakes from 1989 and 2004. Score: 88 points. Trivia Question: Who sings the Bono part in the 2004 Band Aid 20 remake?
(5) “Christmas in Prison” – John Prine. We like John Prine and the quality of “Christmas in Prison,” so we are putting it above some other songs even though you may never have heard it. Plus, you got prison: “The search light in the big yard / Swings round with the gun / And spotlights the snowflakes / Like the dust in the sun.” Check out John Prine’s version below (and hear a cover by Arlo McKinley here). Score: 84 points.
(7) “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis” – Tom Waits: Scored high on the depression scale, but not a song for many repeated listenings and not as famous as some of the above songs. Discussed in previous post in more detail. Score: 79 points.
(8) “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and “White Christmas” (tie) – Bing Crosby and others: Familiarity got these two into the top ten. The music sounds depressing, but the person is missing one Christmas and seems to still have family they will see again. For “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” the guy who wrote the lyrics was thinking of a homesick kid in college. C’mon kid, there are people starving in Africa. At least “White Christmas” gets bonus sad points from its popularity being connected to WWII soldiers missing home. These songs are sad, but not hooker-in-prison sad. Score: 78 points.
(9) “Billy’s Christmas Wish” – Red Sovine: “Billy’s Christmas Wish” may not be as well known as the other songs here, but the song is unbeatable on the depression scale so it makes the list on that alone. Consider: (1) the little boy’s father is in prison for shooting the mother’s boyfriend; (2) the mother works in a bar and lives with an abusive “Mr. Brown;” and (3) then the little boy dies on Santa’s lap at the end. Seriously, that is the song. And then Santa has the nerve to tell us not to be sad because the boy wanted to live with God so “now everything’s alright.” That makes us think that Santa killed Billy. Score: 72 points.
(10) “The Rebel Jesus” – Jackson Browne. The Top Ten List must have room for a song that gets to the heart of Christmas and how the spirit of it gets corrupted, calling us out for our hypocrisy. Everyone may not know this song, but it is a beautiful song of the season. Score: 68 points.
Well we guard our world with locks and guns, And we guard our fine possessions. And once a year when Christmas comes, We give to our relations. And perhaps we give a little to the poor, If the generosity should seize us. But if any one of us should interfere In the business of why there are poor, They get the same as the rebel Jesus
I went shopping today and bought a present for my mom, and then I sang along to “Do They Know It’s Christmas” without doing anything about the poor. I am a worthless human being. Thanks Jackson Browne for making me feel like crap. If you need to feel a little better, you may use the charity of your choice or use these links for CARE, Oxfam, or UNICEF.
Honorable Mention: “Please Daddy Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas” – John Denver: You do not hear this one a lot, and I just discovered Alan Jackson covered the song. The song is sad with the kid worrying whether daddy will be drunk again this Christmas, but it is played as a clap-along song so not as depressing as it could be. Plus, the kid has it good compared to Billy in the Red Sovine song. Score: 54 points.
Bonus Recent Excellent Sad Holiday Song: Mike Ireland and Holler‘s “Christmas Past.” I found this song last year and really like it, and when you hear it, the melody sounds like a song you have heard many times before. The song features various memories floating by and ends with: “The only company I keep exists in memories / Leaving me alone on Christmas Day.” Sad, but a pretty song.
Bonus Links: In preparing this post, I did some googling and saw that others had compiled similar lists that you may see and compare here, here, here, and here.
What’s your favorite depressing holiday song? Post a comment.
There are numerous places to go for happy holiday songs about snowmen, toys, and good cheer. But the holidays are often a depressing time of year for many, in part, because the songs and movies create such high expectations of perfection in our lives. So, to counter those expectations, here at Chimesfreedom we revisit three of the best depressing holiday songs, brought to you by Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, and the Pogues. Because these songs lower one’s expectations, maybe they provide a source of joy for this time of year better than some of the syrupy happy songs.
Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis
The title of Tom Waits’s song, “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis” sums it up. The song starts off with “Silent Night” to give the Christmas setting of the song, and then the “hooker” describes her life to Charley. She spins a tale about a husband and her memories, but at the end she confesses:
I don’t have a husband He don’t play the trombone And I need to borrow money To pay this lawyer And Charley, hey I’ll be eligible for parole Come Valentines day.
Then the singer goes back into “Silent Night,” evoking the hidden sadness that underlies that melancholy song, which is about the birth of a savior born into a fate of suffering. If you are not a Tom Waits fan, I realize his voice takes a little getting used to, but his gravely voice highlights the sadness of this tale.
The River
From the first notes of the piano introduction to “The River,” on both Joni Mitchell’s original and Sarah McLachlan’s cover, you know you are in for a depressing song even if the initial notes are from the happiest of holiday songs, “Jingle Bells.” Like the two other songs here, “The River” begins by setting the scene for Christmas: “It’s coming on Christmas/ They’re cutting down trees / They’re putting up reindeer / And singing songs of joy and peace.”
But then, the song centers on memories of a failed relationship. “Now I’ve gone and lost the best baby / That I ever had /Oh I wish I had a river /I could skate away on.”
I love the Joni Mitchell version of “The River.” Since this post was originally published, Mitchell finally released her first official video for the song in 2022. Check it out below.
Sarah McLachlan’s version may be even more well known, and it is outstanding too. So here is the McLachlan version of “The River.” But you are warned. It is depressing.
Fairytale of New York
The Pogue’s “Fairytale of New York” (1987) is probably my favorite depressing holiday song. Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan wrote the song, which features MacGowan singing lead and trading vocals with featured British singer Kirsty MacColl. Interestingly, when the Pogues began recording the song, MacGowan sang the male and female parts. But record producer Steve Lillywhite suggested his wife Kirsty MacColl create guide vocals for the song, and the band realized she was perfect to use for the parts of the wife in the song. MacGowan re-recorded his vocals to go with MacColl’s recording, so the two never actually sang together in the studio.
Despite the depressing lyrics, the joyous Irish tune lifts my spirits, in much the same way we find joy in other sad holiday stories like “Blue Christmas.” You know it is not a typical Christmas song from the first line: “It was Christmas Eve babe/In the drunk tank.” The singer then turns to memories of his “Queen of New York City” as he “can see a better time/When all our dreams come true.”
Then the band kicks in and the song features an exchange between a couple who are down on their luck. They reflect on their hope in coming to America (“They got cars big as bars / They got rivers of gold”), tinged with dashed dreams (“But the wind goes right through you/It´s no place for the old”).
The couple fight and curse each other. They exchange several barbs, referring to “an old slut on junk” with the holiday wish, “Happy Christmas your arse/ I pray God it’s our last.” I have read a few different interpretations of what is going on in the song — whether it is a current relationship or a past relationship. Despite the broken dreams of the song (“You took my dreams from me”), I like to think the song ends with a tiny sparkle of hope, “Can’t make it all alone/ I’ve built my dreams around you.”
Finally, we’re pulled back to the police station and the drunk tank,
The boys of the NYPD choir Were singing “Galway Bay” And the bells were ringing out For Christmas day
Beautiful.
Bonus Video Information: Recognize the police officer at the beginning of this video? He’s Matt Dillon.
Tonight, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will induct the class of 2011: Darlene Love, Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Tom Waits, Leon Russell and record executives Jac Holzman and Art Rupe. Darlene Love was the voice for several great hits for Phil Spector that were labeled under the groups the Crystals, the Blossoms, and Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans. For her performance at the induction, she said she plans to perform “He’s a Rebel,” “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” and “(Today I Met) the Boy I’m Gonna Marry.”
of Elvis Presley how Elvis’s famous 1968 “Comeback Special” started with the idea of a holiday special. But it turned into something completely different.
There are numerous places to go for happy holiday songs about snowmen, toys, and good cheer. But the holidays are often a depressing time of year for many, in part, because the songs and movies create such high expectations of perfection in our lives. So, to counter those expectations, here at Chimesfreedom we revisit three of the best depressing holiday songs, brought to you by Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, and the Pogues. Because these songs lower one’s expectations, maybe they provide a source of joy for this time of year better than some of the syrupy happy songs.