Trouble with Lights

Because we all love the Bob River’s song about one of the pains of Christmas being those gee-dee lights, we’ll pass on that one. Who else hates the snarling, tangled, uncooperative beasties?

We’ve heard some of these before. Oh well.

Getting them out was the problem for Watkins & The Rapiers with their Argentinely syncopated “Christmas Lights Untango.” Tee hee.

Checking them was the problem for Brian Kinder with his oompah kidsong “Blinking Lights.” See, for a Midwesterner, the term blinking is like swearing. Har de ha.

For a neighborly commentary, Z100 concocted that wacky rude pop blues number “Your Christmas Lights Look Like Crap.” This is olden comedy, so offensive was the new black.

Ian Sands has something I recently discovered (beware: talented amateur). “I Hate Christmas Lights” is a punk metal dad band pop number that ranges over random cultural references to make its (with hard to understand vocals). Still, tip of the hat to South Brunswick High School art teacher Ian Sands.

Also, Lights

Christmas lights can be just one more thing on the to-do list for holiday atmosphere. No biggie.

The “Lights so Bright” in Paul Cartledge, Philip Jewson’s kidstune merely pave the way for Santa, angels, and presents. It’s a warning sign, not a symptom.

Marcy Tigner’s aw shucks Shirley Temple approach to “Colored Christmas Lights” makes me worried she’s singing about a segregated neighborhood. But her eyes are full of all these things, including holiday sparklies. Kidsong of bygone days.

Cod Sent Flute sums up the randomness of the season with the quiet garage poem “Christmas Lights.” Those lights are there, perhaps, to show us Jesus.

The usual complaint about sunny California Christmas puts “The Lights and Buzz” into their proper pigeonholes by Jack’s Mannequin. Incidental alt, with a message.

Showtime Lights

For some, Christmas lights is the Big Show, wait we’ve been waiting for all year, the true meaning of peace on Earth….

The cast from Bob’s Burgers bring the tolerance with a metaphor of enjoying lights of all colors diva-channeling “Twinkly Lights.” Here, enjoy a minute & a half of context before the Todrick Hall showtune.

Also making a big production out of bulbs, Jennifer Paige jazz rocks the showtime “Lights, Camera, Christmas.” Get ready….

For others, the lights are all we got. “Camouflage and Christmas Lights” returns to the blog, because Rodney Carrington’s song is good enough. And because Duck Dynasty‘s The Robertsons covered this country treacle.

Look at Lights

Decorating with lights can be as much fun as cleaning the house, but when it’s time to bask in Christmas wonderment near the top of the list of fun is wandering about to look at all the pretty twinklies. Even not on drugs.

(However, if you are so bent, perhaps The Smoking Trees’ “The Psychedelic Lights of Christmas” might be up your mainline. Whoa.)

The Symmetrics punch the pop (seriously, the plosives are seismic) with “Light It Up.” It’s that moment when the whole thing is turned on. (Mistletoe included, wink.)

Kidsongs ruin the imagination when they rely on familiar tunes (is it a parody? are there so few melodies? built-in sway-alongs?), but “Little Light” by Bobs & Lolo might reach above that low bar using ‘Twinkle, Twinkle’ as a stepping stone. ‘Sup to you.

K C Kookaburra (The Swinging Kookaburra) admits that driving around or walking around “Look at Christmas Lights” is a happy time. Australian pop.

Brad Dison is just driving around looking at “Christmas Lights.” This dad band rockabilly nails our sentiment, coolly joyful.

Put Up Lights

So let’s enjoy the high utility cost of the strings of lights webbing over the outside and inside of your festive holiday domicile. These began as candles on trees, then went electric (but we’ve mostly covered tree lights on this blog), then got narcissistically all over. I mean, Halloween? Fourth of July??? Easter?!?!

Mr. Matt Farley’s back as The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man with his serenade to meaningful “Christmas Lights.” Put ’em up and life makes more sense! Word jazz.

Great Lake Swimmers want you to “Hang a String of Lights” to get with the programming. This lite alt party music might be played on repeat while doing so.

Winterval gets more solemnly emo with “Hang the Lights on the Tree.” Those were the days, when we did that, don’t you recall? Sigh.

Kevin McKinney slackers into the showmanship with “Everybody Wants to See the Lights.” It’s a sad thing, all that expectation weighing down a man. Slo-mo alt-pop that makes whining into poetry.

K1 barely parodies ‘Deck the Halls’ with “Deck the House with Christmas Lights.” The iconoclasm gets wild, however, so follow the rapping bulb!

More overtly humorous (passive-aggressive comedy?) The Therapy Sisters strategize like Caesar for “The War of the Lights.” This sing-songy showtime might hit a bit close to home for some of you. Deal.

Fireplace Lights

We’ve embraced several light sources into our ragtag theme of Christmas Light Songs. So, why not the home’s hearth? It’s where the stockings are hung and Santa appears. And–the Yule log (which should be so dambig that you burn only part of it each of the twelve nights of Xmas)!

Dave & Jeannine rascal the country fiddlin’ for a bad recording “Put Out the Ol’ Yule Log.” Seems forgetting to darken the fireplace will cause some down home regret. Or some two-steppin’.

Black Oak Coven’s album The Homebrewed Book of Pagan Carols offers a “The Yule Log” song about blessed light in the home. It ain’t Christian, but it is holy. Medieval throat boxing.

That, natch, brings us to Prof. Peter Schickele’s “Throw the Yule log on Uncle John.” This parody of Dark Aged chorale ronds is great fun for all teen-aged ironists, including Emerald City Voices.

Also outre, Hot Buttered Elves get psychedelic garage with “Larry was a Yule Log,” in which the holiday centerpiece is anthropomorphized with horrifyingly danceable results.

Let’s retire with a sprightly folk pop piece about the fireplace in the work-a-day world. Sure I could include some random anonymous spoken word piece from the 1960s (hi-fi test album??) about how-to make a Christmas fire…

…but let’s cut instead to Joshua Hyslop’s “Winter’s Night.” The ambience is vibrant, and i’m pretty sure all is well in this world–thanks to the smoldering hearth.

Family Lights

The warm insouciance of bloodlines for Christmas calls us back to that smelly old rickety ranch style (why don’t they fix the porch, that’d be so easy?).

Donna Lewis describes such striking milestones on her way home to “Christmas Lights” i’m dreaming of an allegorical journey to the land beyond death. Woof, that’s strange pop.

Shorty Garrett gets down home with his call to “Keep Those Candles Burnin’.” Just like in those old Motel 6 commercials this bouncy blues pop recommends a beacon for the delayed to get home.

“Leave the Lights on for Me” croons Joseph Hollister on his way with a promise and an alt-pop prayer. Aww, he’s such a good boy.

Home Lights

You know it’s home for Christmas when the lights are up. It’s the best.

Old Dog Orchestra has some fun garage pop with “2010 Lights,” stirring up all those reminiscences and past loves and stuff back home.

Garage bluegrass (?) from Paul Baribeau hangs out in his childhood basement and gets weird, until he enjoys those “Christmas Lights.” They just might slow that racing rhythm down.

Happy Lights

Sometimes lights around the holiday evokes big goofy grins. It’s one of the grandest secondary features of the season.

Patrick Connell just loves the “Christmas Lights.” He can’t stop banging that sentiment out on his folk guitar, so ya gotta believe!

Slowing down the sentiment, Candace and Michael believe all they need are the “Christmas Lights.” It’s like a reflective walk down a beautifully decorated street at Christmas. Lovely alt-pop.

Jewel’s got a strange alt-pop with “Blue Crystal Glow.” Her poetry tends to just list image fragments. Still, ethereal.

More aggressively alt-rock, Dreams So Real find their understated joy in “Red Lights (Merry Christmas).” No irony was harmed in the making of this song.

Secular Lights

Sometimes the light of Christmas is the means of getting through the darkest time of the year.

Darlene Como takes us across the galaxy to get us to the experimental oddity of “Christmas Eve by Candle Light.” I’m a little in the dark, here.

Drum gospel from Canticles of Light evokes a spiritual calling to home, hope, and hep-ness. “Light is Returning” is for that time of year, but that that particular church. Dig it.