Year-round Yuletide oddities
Inferiority Complex? I never had one ’til you got me that present.
I always felt inadequate/For the whole holiday bit admits Magritte & Rosen for their “Favorite Season“. Since there are two of them, they don’t spiral out of control. How nice for them. Indie pop.
“Christmas for Failures” from Surprise Flapjacks also has downs. And Ups. Fainthearted indie froth.
A psychological state somewhere between fear and anger, guilt is how a boy deals with a stocking full of coal.
Bluffing the Ghosts narrow our focus with “Christmas, Whiskey, & Survivor’s Guilt“. This spilling of the guts in fine folk form alleviates nothing for no one no how. There will be crying.
Ray Stevens cries anti-woke “Christmas Guilt” in some odd, orchestrated showtune (thought he was country). Still, a rednecked rude-off.
Well, it IS a religious tenet. “Catholicity Hokum” confesses John Tabacco is why he feels empty inside. Bluesy indie with a comedic endcap.
And the guilt you feel when you miss a deal/Is the modern Yuletide shame is only one symptom of “The Curse of Christmas Cheer (Fast Christmas)” according to Keltic & Irish. Jiggy Celtic, yes.
They wrapped it up/In guilt and fear is the complaint of BLUE ALERT Hollow Place’s “Fuck Christmas“. Overcompensating!
Sammy J belts out “Christmas Family Guilt (Live)” like it’s the showstopper from Gilbert & Sullivan. Which is why i love it.
There’s no way out for Now Its Art when they hard rock “Depressed for Christmas“. Crying doesn’t help.
Nate Funk goes all in on “All I Get for Christmas Is Depression“. Jazz band ska, so it’s a party. Sigh.
“The Most Depressing Time of the Year” is high octane pop from Crash Test Anthem. Millennial bitching, basically. Aspirin over valium here.
“Winter in My Heart” is that poetic diagnosis that raises red flags. Atomic Neon slurs their indie to make you worry.
You may have been looking for the overserved lounge act, “Most Depressing Time of the Year” where Toiley T. Paper (feat. John B. Dehaas) debate the ups and downs of the partying. Comedy over parody. Ben Coleman also sends up ‘Wonderful’ with far less humor.
“Seasonal Depression (A Christmas Song)” poses John Trent as a Dylanesque troubadour sniping on mental illness. Folk pop condescension.
WE’s “This Blizzard’s Got Me Down” has got them nearly comatose with unhappiness. Snow Day has never been worse than in this indie.
Also with Seasonal Affected Disorder The Night Hobs haul out the violins for “Winter is Here“, the trigger for barely holding on. Indie moodiness.
This life is killing my Christmas soul, sings Little Bear in “Little Bear & The Christmas Soul“. We suffer a hard alt rock pounding as well when atonal chaos ensues.
From Contents Under Pressure’s Christmas musical the floor drops out under “Holiday Despair“. As it is a musical, emotional progress is made. So, not really despair. Just a reversal of plot.
Will Ferrell Aspergers the season with childish glee. Let’s honor that. (Not the musical treatments, that’s been done.)
The Wonder of Milton briefly reviews line in “Buddy the Elf What’s Your Favorite Color“. Rock.
Chance Alan turns up the AI to cover the sugary bases in the country rocker “12 Drops of Christmas.” I don’t get it.
The Classic Brown’s “Son of a Nutcracker” also recycles lines. Nice indie pop beat.
Some miscellanea while i gots you here…
Youth on Track treasures watching “The Nightmare Before Christmas Eve” but worries about the emotional trauma on the next day. Electronic pop.
“Chris Farren’s Disney’s Frozen” Carrib raps the sad tale of Olaf. Chris Warren (feat. Anika Pyle & Sean Bonnette) play hard to work hard. Bookended by dad joke.
TV’s Kyle invokes “Shrek 2” as a Christmas time celebration. Bombastic showtune march.
Mummers presented (in garish masks with elaborate miming) death and resurrection, often in the Olde Country about Sir George. But then, there was also Father Christmas. Mumming is still a bit of a Xmas trad in England today.
Or, Newfoundland (where they seemingly can’t afford masks so use rags on their heads). As shown by Simani in their “Mummer’s Song.” Celtic as heck. Sean Panting remembers Covid with the parody “Mummers, Nice Mummers, Get Lost.”
Celtic to the point of translation, Chronilus gives us “The Mummers’ Dance.” Cuttin’ rugs there in Seattle.
“The Mummers are Here” proclaim the cast of ‘The Christmas Schooner’ finally with proper pomp and circumspect.
The Peter Pan Players invite all littluns to “Join in the Celebration” for Xmas with lots of noise. Sounds like an invitation to a cult.
Such wild-eyed enthusiasm is what drove Scrooge away, as we find in “Jolly Good Time” from one of those Carol musicals. Good Show here might mean Well Done ‘cross the pond, but still….
Miss Piggy (Dr. Oz) is the “Christmas Queen” of the Christmas Show. The chorus has notes.
Is Xmas just a swirly glittery carnival? Well, maybe not so much with the games and freak show, but golly–
“Christmas at the Carnival” is Boyfriend Machine’s ode to long distance romance. Alt rock garage.
Tom Edge slows the tempo and grooves into his “Christmas Carnival” as if it were from Bradbury or King. Spooky indie.
A different type of “Carnival” comes courtesy of Joker T who tweaks AI until biker country slips out. Metaphoric or not, it evades sense.
The Nonsense Christmas musical, Nuncrackers, fits in the calliope inspired “A Carnival Christmas.” That’s a big top show tune.
Most Christmas plays illustrate Bible stories for the masses, like they did nearly a millennium ago. We tend to favor newer Testaments nowadays.
My little boy was a wise man this year, warbles Reba in “The Angels Sang.” Pop country about misting up over the Lord.
Not everyone gets to be in this rite o’ passage public humiliation. Like Caitlyn Dyke as told in “Preacher’s Kid.” Indie country with a wistful bent.
The cast on a spectrum is “Merry Mary (Christmastime Is Here)” by Tomás. This messy rehearsal of a kidshow is both entertaining and prophylactic. Other peoples’ kids, amiright?
Again: Agnosticism tries to rock in “Have Yourself a Merry Secular Xmas” by Connor Ratliff & Mikey Erg. Knowing it can’t be known doesn’t get us very far.
David Goody returns to spoof pop McCartney and spell out the philosophical consequences of a “Nihilistic Christmas.” Check out the pointless guitar solo. (This is less confusing than his teasing “Nihilist Navidad” where the lesson is: whatever you like. That’s not really nihilist, is it.)
“It’s a Nihilist’s Christmas!“–BLUE ALERT–is the salsa beat indie from Lips Manly that allows for whatever purges your tension. Bet you wind up alone, though.
Queen Elizabeth’s Abortion solemnly electronicas “The 12 Days of Nihilism.” Better than it oughta be. I recommend it to my science fiction friends.
Thomas Christ reduces the state of being even more with the electronic “Nihilist Christmas.” Don’t believe it!
Glen Richardson juggles possibilities with improbabilities in the much more musical slow rocking “The Nihilist’s Christmas.” It’s like tipsy showtune.
Trying again, Maxwell Miles (feat. Gary Zimmer) emphatically declare “Santa is Real” with pounding pop music. Believe or get outta the way.
Subliminal singing from Monster and the Family makes a prog rock mess out of “Santa is Real.” As my wife likes to point out, some forwarding will improve your enjoyment.
Lenne Brothers Band livens up the party with rockabilly and “It Could be Santa.” Just in case.
Wild Hares broaden horizons with indie possibilities “If You Believe.” It’s conditional.
In ‘Elf: The Musical’ Santa’s existence gets questioned. The mom and kid make a list of demands while making their lists. If they get personal gifts (NOT CASH), they showtune “I’ll Believe in You.” Quid pro quo.