Useta believe is akin to not believing. As again: Jeremy Walker reminds us in shambling country that we used to believe but now we’re “Not So Wise Men Anymore.” So there.
Or like when Clint Black remembers being “The Kid” and with slow country aw-shucks condescends all over innocence. Not ‘cuz he knows better now, but MIRACLES… or something.
MNEK croons R+B over the loss of innocence (and love) via “Stopped Believing in Santa.” A broken soul who can really hold a note.
FullMoonPoet slurs up an indie storm with “I Used to Believe in Christmas” and bunches of other myth. But, you know, older/wiser.
Also again: Checklist decides this whole believing schtick is too much for right now. “Next Year for Sure” they indie out so they’ll get presents anyway.
Gaspard Royant brings The Continent to indie pop with “I Can’t Believe It’s Christmas.” Builds symphonically, yet that country twang keeps it grounded.
Attempting rap D.P. Weisemann declares “I Can Believe It’s Here” with only middling effort. Not buying it.
So Out There electronicas “This is Why Christmas is Bullshit!” for your edification. Brit anti-capitalism, so file it away correctly in case you need it again.
The Aux garage rocks the if/then equation of “A Real Santa.” It’s only a thought experiment, but now i feel all funny inside.
Again: PST recounts childhood trauma seeing Dad when it shoulda been someone else in the unplugged folk “I Still Believe.” I mostly believe you, too.
Ne-Yo R+Bs the sobering realities of wintertime when cousins be spilling tea in “Talk About It.” People do their own thing. You do yours. He does his.
“Christmas Bullshit” from Identity Crisis is drunk garage hopelessness, although it discourages suicide.
Durand Bernarr also invokes R+B to paint the picture of parental brutality in the affecting “Santa Ain’t Buy That.” Parents don’t like being discounted. So, ow.
The Ohio City Players rock the polka with “Make Believe,” an investigation into the power of the mind. Mind bendy.
Sean Allan Krill also toys with Xmas maybes in the easy listening folderol “Wish.” Whitebread with mayonnaise.
Jesus Presley parlays Xmas faith into the Big Question in the bluesy pop “It’s Christmas Eve.” The follow-up line here is I do believe, as if everything is ephemeral and all that exists is what you want it to be. Sexy sax, man.
Again: Ron Holden has already asked us “Who Says There Ain’t No Santy Claus?” But it bears redefending. Doo wop greatness all the way to the electric chair.
Riffing off Red Sovine’s patented storytelling, MAMA admits that in “A Christmas Far Far Away” no one believes in Christmas. This is a country trucking song, but in space. It’s like that.
Again: From the failed musical ‘Flahooley’ Barbara Cook and Jerome Courtland update “Who Says There Ain’t No Santa Claus?” with a love song searching for romance.
Brooks and Dunn did NOT improve on this title with their homespun country mush “Who Says There Ain’t No Santa.” Not a cover, but a banal cashgrab.
Properly modern, Captain Beefheart avant gardes the blues with his proclamation “There Ain’t No Santa Claus on the Evening Stage.” Sure it’s from the 1970s, but compared to the other stuff here, this is forward looking.
Again: Maybe i gots a soft spot for Therese Jennings’s Plank Road Publishing, but the professional productions of swing bits like “Who Put the Christmas Presents Under the Tree?” beats the short pants offa the elementary assemblies we have to sit through.
Washboard rhythms from The Christmas Jug Band prevaricate over the question with “The Real Deal.” Is he? Isn’t he? Ask your kid.
Santa promised he’d leave his wife, but that was another of his “Christmas Lies.” Fear Boner overproduces this silliness with jazz band pop.
Watch out for the BLUE ALERT when David Ivan Neil pisses all over the myth that “Santa is Real.” Swinging country that hopes to offend you.
The Heebee-Jeebees sing the blues with “Please Santa be Real.” They’re kidsong-sters, but the music is the real deal.
Again: Very happy to reunite you with The Yule Logs’ “Atheist Serf Holiday.” Good old rock and roll puts ideology in its place. Groovy.
The Non Traditionals pedal the same story with “Santa Must be Daddy,” a folk rocker of an exploration through Nativity and what’s under the tree. Mystical.
Surfrock from fun. puts us in the thick of it with the woo-wooo “Believe in Me.” See, he believes in Santa and reindeer and getting Ashley a Bowflex, but has his own identity crisis. Poof, he’s gone.
Is Santa a legend based on history? Or a myth that fills the hole of dread? Or a lie parents find deflects blame? Or a gateway to Christianity? Bring on the Doubting Thomases!
Again: Augie Rios returns with the fun R’n’R kidsong “Ol’ Fatso.” This refuser yells at that guy on the roof… until faced with the absence of presents. Switcheroo! (The Caroleers make mincemeat out of this replacing rock with symphonic.)
Beatnik Turtle gives the holidays the third degree with the investigatory “Santa.” This slow club rock deconstructs the myth and doesn’t like what it finds. Loss of credibility follows.
Daniel Dennis brings back the rock (wrapped in country) with the concept that You Don’t Believe, but “Santa Still Believes.” That’ll do, figment of my imagination, that’ll do.
