I’m getting to the age where I’m starting to forget things that I’ve done. You can blame kids, but it probably goes beyond that. As a result, I went through an exercise where I tried to write down every concert that I’ve attended. The next thing that I wanted to do was try to remember at least one thing about the show that was memorable. A lot of shows tend to blend together. I’m also curious to verify both that the show exists with the correct lineup and that I actually remember being there. I’ve already had discussions about shows that I went to with other people that were there and they barely remember it, so these results should be interesting.
Just Like Christmas
Low – Just Like Christmas (from Christmas EP)
It’s probably not any weirder featuring a track from a band made up of Mormons than a band full of atheists but I still feel that way. Released in 1999, the Low Christmas EP was one of the earlier indie rock Christmas albums. While being known mostly for their slow tempo and quiet nature, Just Like Christmas is surprisingly peppy and upbeat. It might be argued that this isn’t a true Christmas song, as the song just talks about scenes that were/were not like Christmas, but I want to listen to it at this time of year anyway.
David Bazan covered this for the AV Club, and unlike almost everything else that he’s released under his own name, he didn’t suck the joy and hope out of it. It looks like the original video is gone, so this is the best that I could find:
The Brightest Star
Vekora & Poor Old Lu – The Brightest Star
One of the fun things about starting this blog again was digging through areas of my music collection that I haven’t seen in a while and some stuff that I forgot about. I think this one definitely falls under the latter. Jesse Sprinkle is the bridge between the two groups listed here. His new band Vekora borrows most of Poor Old Lu, (Never found out why Nick Barber couldn’t help out on the bass line) for one of the two tracks that Poor Old Lu has released since their reunion album, The Waiting Room. When you start with Scott Hunter’s vocals, it definitely starts like a Poor Old Lu song but when Alexandra Wendt’s voice comes in, it goes somewhere that no Poor Old Lu song ever really went.
Joseph, Who Understood
The New Pornographers – Joseph, Who Understood (from The Spirit of Giving EP)
This was not a band that I’d expect to feature on a Christmas blog, but they released this EP back in 2007. The song tries to tell the story of The Immaculate Conception from Joseph’s side. If your fiancée told you that she was pregnant and that an angel told her there was no father, how would you react? The lyrics definitely border on cheezy, but it’s still a question that I’d never really contemplated. The lyric moves from questioning to acceptance and provides a modern take on a part of the Christmas story that is very rarely talked about.
“You’re asking me to believe too many things”
Saviour of the Fools
Puller – Saviour of the Fools (from Happy Christmas Vol. 1)
How often do you here of a band being so proud of a song that, well after the group has broken up, they create a website dedicated to the song. That’s just what Mike Lewis, formerly of Puller, did. Unfortunately, the site only existed briefly in 2011, so if you want to see if now, you need to visit the The Wayback Machine.
I never really got much into the band. I liked the What’s Mine At Twilight album and #1 Fan was fun, but given the amount of time that I spent in my adolescence listening to Tooth & Nail, I never really connected with their music. That said, I love this song.
I’ll just leave you with the lyrics:
So endless I’ve been taken away as patience yields to anger
As a world moves and bends to waves of sin that will not end
Weightless I fall from Grace, take the pause and wish it away
So many will be present so few will see and know.
Oh Savior of the Fools, Oh Savior of the Fools
Tapered lives that burn within surrendered to a life less lived
A crowd of rolling thunder that cannot make a sound
A day of a downcast fool, who finds a chance inside a baby’s eyes
When no one else will live, misunderstood as him.
Oh Savior of the Fools, Oh Savior of the Fools
And in my weakness I vanish with air,
To bow and tremble at the power in His hands
And in my darkness I’m visited again, by the still small voice Who calls
A fool to be a hero for Love
For Love, For Love, For Love, For Love, For Love
Christmas lights and trees can’t heal, broken lives and hearts that feel
The loneliness of fallen dreams, that leaves nothing at all
Moments pass a star to rise, a Baby’s born but born to die
To leave this world a light that cannot be taken out
Oh Savior of the Fools, Oh Savior of the Fools
And in my weakness I manage to relive,
The tear filled eyes of wise men standing in awe of Him
And in my darkness I’m visited again, by the still small voice that was born
On a silent night, to bring a life, for Love
For Love, for Love, for Love, for Love, for Love
Words by Mike Lewis
Oh yeah, Stavesacre also covered this and it’s excellent. Some days I like it better than the original. The link below is the only place that I’ve seen it other than a digital sampler that you got by buying some thing from zambooie.com one Christmas season. I think that I bought something just to get the sampler to here the song.
I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
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:
Christmas Day
MxPx – Christmas Day (from Punk Rawk Christmas)
Sure you may be sick of pop-punk by now, but this MxPx song is worth another listen. Although many of their peers and tourmates made it famous, (for a while it seemed like touring with them was one step to breaking big, see Good Charlotte, The Ataris, etc) they never managed to write that one song to propel them into the mainstream. Chick Magnet was fun, but once they signed to A&M, it seemed like they couldn’t just find that hit song.
Anyways, they used to release a Christmas song every year to their fan club. The first of which was Christmas Day. It was so good that Tooth and Nail Records managed to convince them to include it on their Happy Christmas 2 compilation, along with a great rendition of You’re a Mean One, Mr Grinch by Sixpence None The Richer. After listening to their entire, exhaustive discography, it’s still my favourite track of theirs.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Bad Religion – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (from Christmas Songs)
They say that the best satire is almost indistinguishable from what they are trying to lampoon. Bad Religion’s Christmas Songs is just that. I guess it should be obvious when the band is fronted by such an outspoken naturalist as Greg Graffin that they’re not taking this seriously, but you’d be tough to listen to this without that back story and think that this was somehow mocking or re-purposing the song. The band has always had a great ear for melody and that comes through here.
This song has been covered too many times to really list all of them here. So I’ll just mention a few of my favourites:
August Burns Red (you’ll see they’re name a lot over the next month)
Barenaked Ladies & Sarah McLachlan
Bright Eyes
Almonzo
Least of These
A Cradle in Bethlehem
The Beautiful Mistake – A Cradle in Bethlehem (from A Santa Cause: It’s a Punk Rock Christmas)
I love Spotify and streaming in general, but it’s never going to have everything. The first track on the blog to not be found on streaming services in this gem from a 14-year old compilation from Immortal Records. I picked this up mostly due to it featuring a track from MxPx and the least famous ex-frontman of Further Seems Forever, Jason Gleason. I love the way that the song builds. In many ways, it’s a typical emo song from the early 2000s. The guitars seem to somehow both plod and drive at the same time
After listening to this song for a while, I was a little surprised when I finally heard Nat King Cole’s version of it (He didn’t write it but it’s definitely the most popular). The Beautiful Mistake give it a very different energy and for someone that has merely a passing interest of singers like Cole, I prefer this version. Lauryn Hill covered it a couple years ago as well, but it’s definitely more in the vein of Nat King Cole. Sleeping At Last also has a version, but for my ears, this is the only one that I’ll really listen to.
Come On! Let’s Boogey to the Elf Dance!
Sufjan Stevens – Come On! Let’s Boogey to the Elf Dance! (from Songs For Christmas)
Sometimes I want to blame Sufjan Stevens for every indie artist wanting to record their own Christmas songs and the plethora of compilations that are now out there. I think the story is fairly well known by now. Stevens originally started records EPs of Christmas songs, (covers and originals) giving them out to friends instead of Christmas cards. Inevitably, they wound up on the Internet and became so popular that eventually he released the first five as a box set. I haven’t bothered to look if there are any more past the 10 that have been officially released. But with that many EPs, it’s tough to believe that there’s much more ground for him to cover here.
I’ve always been a fan of his acoustic, folkier stuff, with Seven Swans being my favourite album of his. So naturally, I gravitate more towards the early Christmas EPs than the latter, although Christmas Unicorn will probably be featured in a later post. This song has a mood the symbolizes a lot of what people want to feel around Christmas time. The lyrics evoke a theme of nostalgia, sitting around a fire and having a good time. It’s tough to read too much into this song, so it’s nice to just enjoy it for what it is.
I haven’t really come across any covers of this song, but I haven’t really looked either.