Pedro The Lion – I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day (from I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day)
Depressing Christmas music is kind of its own genre. Most Christmas songs are meant to be festive and joyous, but then you get some songs that are meant to be reflective. Beyond that, there’s a whole level beneath that of music that just depresses you (See Mark Kozelek’s Christmas album for an example of this). While recording under the Pedro The Lion moniker, David Bazan hit that reflective note, but the Christmas stuff that he’s released since he started releasing under his own name is just plain depressing. A lot of that is probably due to his abandoning of his Christian faith. After that, his music lost what little hope it had. But before we go too far down that rabbit hole, I’ve included one of the earlier songs which really suits his style. It’s critical and reflective, but still includes hope. One of the reason that I lost touch with his music for a few years was this loss of hope.
There are a few other renditions that are worth hearing:
The Civil Wars:
Beta Radio: