I’ll admit to watching the first season of Stranger Things, but was so racked by how glacial and derivative it was that i pretended i never did.
But, gotta tell ya, Ingrid Michaelson’s ‘borrowing’ of the “Christmas Lights” bit from that show to tell a tale of romantic hardship goes a whole ‘nother dimension of weird. It’s a fun alt-lite number, and i completely dig the animated video made for it, but please don’t have hype-culture inspire anything but humorous songs! Please!
Christmas lights are such a staple that any satirist worth his nutmeg can tune up a pop song with the mere allusion to them and create a knee-slapper.
Ducan G lights up Passenger with “The Candles Glow.”
Krazy Kyles play around with Blink-182 in “Tree Lights Stockings.”
The Withers go all out on Carl Douglas’s ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ as “Christmas Lighting.” Yeah, I’ve played you that before, but it still caught you off guard!
The Xmas lights were shining when you were in love, the Xmas lights were still shining when you broke up. Turn off the damn lights.
Pushing our boy to the limit, Trevor Fett wants out with the melodic rap “Christmas Lights Magenta.” I coulda told you, those girls who want a rocket ship are to be avoided at all high costs.
Singing while you were walking away, The Kingdom of McChicken wears their garage folk on their sleeves in the shadows of “Christmas Lights.” Sounds like a Wes Anderson movie scene.
Coldplay goes even softer alt with their poisonous breakup “Christmas Lights.” That’ll show her, boys.
When she’s gone, put up the “Blue Light Christmas Tree.” It reminds Steven John Tillotson of her, so–painful, but pop blues.
Missing her, Salvador Buttersworth wishes she could help him decide what was real when “I Thought I Saw the Christmas Lights from Adel.” It’s a whole alt thing.
Wishing for the makeup after the breakup Keegan DeWhitt & The Sparrows toss up some “Christmas Lights” of Hope. Gentle alt-pop, ‘cuz that’s woo-thy.
Those little light bulbs on a string for Jesus sure get me in a frisky mood. Baby.
Cody Joe Hodges country twists all the holiday catchphrases into double entendres in “Tangled in the Christmas Lights.” Whoa, Nelly, that’s a warm apple cider, that one is.
Julian Primeaux hoots lowly for his mood-setting “Christmas Lights in June.” Jazzy alt that melts in your hand as well as your mouth.
James Kolchaka Superstar somehow commingles those “Beautiful Christmas Lights” with coveting thy neighbor’s wife. Experimental breezy fun. [The BLUE ALERT random electronic rap on this theme is “Christmas Lights” by Nessley, mentioned here as a postscript only. Sheesh!]
The true course of Xmas lights ne’er did run smooth. Sometimes they tangle up, just like love ’round the holidays.
Tangled up, is the theme for the stand-offish love ballad “Christmas Lights in June.” Patrick McGlynn is not all in for this romance, despite his somewhat passionate alt-pop
Garage music love is not like regular love, perhaps more intense, perhaps more cazh. Samurai Tiger’s “Christmas Lights” paces between the two with awkward lyrics.
Doomed love from Levi Altar with the pretty pop guitar pickings and modulated commercial announcement-voice in “The Lights.” Unrequited hollerin’.
Calmer, Slowly Slowly metaphorizes the lover as the lights you take for granted. Alt-declamatory, “Christmas Lights” takes us for an advanced poetry course of angst. Some anger, too.
Christmas is a time to shed some light on the meaning of life. So let’s up the wattage on love, shall we? I knew you’d want to.
Gwen Stefani is looking for love “Under the Christmas Lights.” Shoo bop.
Sia is looking for love “Under the Christmas Lights.” Oo-we-oo.
Cimorelli is falling like the snow (for you). “Christmas Lights” is so girly in love, i’m matching periods with it. Show pop.
Natalie Brown sounds a bit more grounded with her love letter “Christmas Lights.” She doesn’t need mistletoe with her jazzy slow pop, just some of the periphery –and you.
Switching to the male point of view (sorta), The Crystalairs doo wop the zoom to heaven with that Wintery “Light of Love.” Cooler than the girls?
Slidawg & The Redneck Ramblers get gooey romantic with the squeezebox serenade “The Lights on the Trailer.” Guys!
Well then, let the man do it. JD McPherson’s jazzabilly swings “Twinkle (Little Christmas Lights)” for the cool cats and kittens. Like butter.
Sometimes the lights are in your face, all over the place, too fast to chase… and you can’t draw a bead on their meaning. It means that your meds aren’t working, or that lights have outgrown their symbolic roots and have become the new reality. Cope!
Monica hypnotically chants about Christmas night and how “I Saw Light.” I’d give it a BLUE ALERT if i could understand it.
Darlene Como similarly warbles and creates, now with fewer actual words, a strange world for the holidays with “Twisted Christmas Lights in Romantic India.” May i presume so much that all is not well here?
FoloSound colors outside the rap lines with a story of love(?) and heartbreak(?) (or just music) with “808s & Christmas Lights.” The 808s from aught i can gather is the electronic beat machine setting the rhythm here.
Eric Lichter gets coffeehouse beat poet in “Christmas Lights for Matadors.” This balletic word salad may yield to explication, but i’ll swim and sway happily regardless (mostly to the banjo parts). Fine alt-folk.
I swear i’ll find the time someday to feature songs that just repeat one line over and over, like some brain-damaged mantra that means everything but sounds foreign eight reps in.
Tyrone & Lesley strum that uke and strut their stuff with the phrase “Like a Light Bulb.” Does it mean Christmas?! Man, it means whatever you’d like it to mean. Listen to it again.
Kingdom 2 follows up with the stomping, orchestrated alt “Big Red Light.” (Some ah ah ahs here, but they just emphasize the main theme.) Party time!
What better way to celebrate lights at Yuletide than to make a present out of them? Symbolism capitalism synergy.
Most hilariously, The Saturday Night Live cast (feat. Emma Stone) poke at that sore tooth of “The Christmas Candle” as a trash gift that gets you off the hook of the thought that counts. (Pay attention to the lotion-pairing advice, though.) Smarmy gospel girl-pop.
Most oddly, The Mystic Cowboys wonder if you’d like a “Stoplight for Christmas.” Literally. (Except, they’re cowboys, so… layers.) Fun alt-western.
Lights for Jesus, check. Lights for family, check. Anyone else need to see these around Christmas?
Antony Field kidsongs “Puttin’ Up the Christmas Lights” in order for Santa Claus to find the house. They’re good for that!
The Ohio City Singers swings the blues with “Waiting on a Red Light.” This story warns of who is coming Christmas Eve. So… i’m not sure if there are traffic signals involved, or the prostitute’s neighborhood, or it’s just a good time to go monochrome for the big guy.
The light Santa needs is generally the freak-nose-show from the head of his herd. But Kitty Wells attempted to outsing that Rudolphjuggernaut in “Dasher with the Light Upon His Tail.” This country swanger beleaguers imagery–don’t imagine this one at home, kids!