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This index lists the essential songs (not all the songs) contained on the albums reviewed in Hip Christmas, plus singles, album tracks, or one-hit wonders not otherwise included on those albums. Whenever possible, the artist's name is linked to my review of the best Christmas album (not necessarily the only or original album) on which to find the song.

Barring that, the names will be linked to a place where you may buy the song (usually Amazon). If there's no link, it means that, to my knowledge, the song is not available, though used copies may be in circulation. Of course, the list will expand as I write more reviews. And, nothing's perfect - especially me and my crazy list. Please send additions, corrections, criticisms, and suggestions via email.

  • Take A Break Guys (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen) (Brian Setzer, 2007)
  • Take Me Back To Toyland (Nat King Cole, 1955)
  • Take Me Home For Christmas (Deep Delta, 2015) [close]

    Deep DeltaDeep Delta is a blues/rock side-project of Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collens and Stone Temple Pilots bassist Robert DiLeo. I'm not a fan of either band, and I'm always skeptical of white rockers playing the blues - though African Americans Debbi Blackwell-Cook (vocals) and Forrest Robinson (drums) lent Deep Delta some authenticity. Perhaps that's why I overlooked this single when it came out, or perhaps it's the altogether generic cover art. By the time I noticed it, the single (an iTunes exclusive) was no longer for sale. But, the band left it up on YouTube and Soundcloud, so I was able to check it out.

    It turned out to be, well, not bad, and certainly far to the right of the band's usual sound, which is more akin to Led Zeppelin than Lead Belly. "Take Me Home For Christmas" is a slow, languorous, R&B ballad that, the band maintains, is "reminiscent of the 1940's jazz era." Personally, I wouldn't go that far, and I'd argue that they shot themselves in the foot by attempting something "classic" rather than doing what they do best: making a lot of blues-adjacent noise. Nevertheless, it's an original song by famous people, and I felt compelled to document it. So there.

  • Talking Christmas Blues (David Lee Roth, 2023)
  • Talking Christmas Goodwill Blues (John Wesley Harding, 1989)
  • Teddi's Song (When Christmas Comes) (John Mellencamp, 1995)
  • Teenage Christmas (Jacobites, 1996) [close]

    JacobitesDespite a prolific career that spanned over 25 years, English iconoclast Nikki Sudden is best remembered for his early and brief tenure with Swell Maps ("Let's Build A Car"), an influential post-punk band he formed with his brother, Epic Soundtracks. His longest running alliance, though, was the Jacobites, a band Sudden formed in 1984 with Dave Knusworth, playing aggressive rock that owed more to the Faces or Rolling Stones than the angular pop of the Swell Maps. Sudden met Kusworth in 1980 while the latter played with the Subterranean Hawks. In 2004, Sudden recalled, "Dave and I agreed that if the Hawks ever broke up we'd get a band together. But when I turned up at Dave's house a few days after the Hawks had deceased, Dave said, 'I've already got a band together with Slim,'" meaning the Rag Dolls (who eventually disappeared without a trace) and Slim Cartwright (Kusworth's brother-in-law). Undeterred, Sudden convinced Knusworth to play in both bands. The Rag Dolls are only relevant to our present discussion because, in Sudden's words, "We stole two Rag Dolls' songs and made them our own," one of which was "Teenage Christmas" (now credited to Sudden, Kusworth, and Cartwright).

    Initially, the Jacobites recorded a number of singles and EP's, plus two full albums including the acclaimed Robespierre's Velvet Basement which also featured Epic Soundtracks (who died mysteriously in 1997). They didn't release "Teenage Christmas," however, until 1996 after they returned from a lengthy hiatus, and then only in an acoustic version as the b-side of a split 7" single given away with an issue of Presto Magazine. Eventually, this version of "Teenage Christmas" showed up on the 2002 CD reissue of Twin Tone Records' 1986 Jacobites compilation The Ragged School.

    The electric (and electrifying) version of "Teenage Christmas" came out in 1998, both on the band's final studio CD, God Save Us Poor Sinners (Bomp, 1998), and as a limited edition 7-inch single on Chatterbox Records. Lyrically, I'll admit, "Teenage Christmas" is no great shakes (note that the words to the acoustic and electric versions vary somewhat). But this definitive electric recording is magnificent, if altogether obscure - a non-stop thrill ride of guitars and hooks. (The Bomp CD is out-of-print and, for reasons unknown, "Teenage Christmas" does not appear on the 2010 Easy Action reissue of God Save Us Poor Sinners - which is only available for download.)

    Nikki Sudden once said, "The Jacobites are Nikki Sudden and Dave Kusworth. The Jacobites will continue as long as we are both alive." Kusworth and Sudden did, in fact, play together on a semi-regular basis until March 26, 2006 when Sudden died in his sleep from a brain hemmorage after a solo gig at New York's Knitting Factory. The Jacobites were scheduled to play in London just three days later. In writing of Sudden's sudden death, English writer Kirk Lake recalled, "He figured in one of my favourite rock moments of all time - storming the stage to join Dave Kusworth's Rag Dolls playing 'Teenage Christmas' at a club in Birmingham with the promoter and the bar staff holding on to the speaker stacks so they didn't topple over on to the tiny stage."

  • Teenage Santa Claus (Babs Gonzales, 1959)
  • Tell 'Em It's Christmas (Buckcherry, 2023)
  • Ten Tubas (Professor & Maryann, 2005)
  • Thank God It's Christmas (Queen, 1984)
  • Thank You Christmas (Stratocruiser, 2008) (Stratocruiser, 2008)
  • Thank You Santa Claus (Dr. John, 1984)
  • Thanks For Christmas
  • Thanksgiving (Loudon Wainwright, 1989)
  • Thanksgiving Day (Ray Davies, 2006)
  • Thanksgiving Filter (Drive-By Truckers, 2011)
  • Thanksgiving Rock (The Grapes & Friends, 2020)
  • Thanksgiving Song (Adam Sandler, 1993)
  • That Christmas Feeling (Bing Crosby, 1950)
  • That Christmasy Feeling (Johnny Cash, 1972)
  • That Makes Christmas Day (Rufus & Carla Thomas, 1973
  • That Punchbowl Full Of Joy (Sonny Columbus & His Del Fuegos, 1983) Top 100 Song [close]
    A Boston Rock Christmas
    listen / buy

    "That Punchbowl Full Of Joy" is a paean to drunken debauchery and the only original song on the rare and wonderful EP, A Boston Rock Christmas (1983). Sonny Columbus was the stage name of one James Ryan, who was originally from Columbus, Ohio. He was best known for playing in another Beantown band, the Swinging Erudites, who were a lounge revival act before there even was such a thing, and his day gig was running Hoodoo Barbecue, a legendary musician's hangout. He was characterized at the time as a "deranged and highly active alcoholic," and that's not hard to believe given the horny inebriation that gleefully fills his "Punchbowl" to the brim.

    Sonny envisions no less than "a million women by the mistletoe, lined up and ready to go," and he sounds capable of servicing every single one - despite the fact that he refers to his penis as "Tiny Tim." Blasphemous Christmas puns (logs, balls, stockings) abound - jiving perfectly with the Del Fuegos' salacious bump-and-grind. While Columbus admits, "I'm not a big religion fan," he insists, "little Jesus, well, he's my man!" As if to prove his point, he promises, "I'll bring you back down to my manger, because at Christmas time no one's a stranger." Wow - someone's gonna fry for this one!

    Sadly, A Boston Rock Christmas has never been reissued in any digital format, but "That Punchbowl Full Of Joy" has been - barely. It was included on Ho Ho Ho Spice: A Hospice Awareness And Benefit Project, a poorly distributed, long out-of-print 2002 benefit album. Finally, it's worth noting that about half the Del Fuegos also worked at Hoodoo Barbecue, and "Punchbowl Full Of Joy" is among their earliest recordings. Within a year, they would sign up with Slash Records (distributed by Warner Brothers) and release their amazing debut, The Longest Day. The band would go on to become one of the best-known alternative rock acts of the 1980's, though they broke up before the decade closed. [back to list]

  • That Special Time Of Year (Gladys Knight & The Pips, 1982)
  • That Swingin' Manger (Bob Francis, 1995)
  • That Time of Year Again (Sick Puppies, 2009)
  • That'll Be Christmas (Thea Gilmore, 2009)
  • That's Christmas Time To Me (Bill Monroe, 1977)
  • That's What I Want For Christmas
  • There Ain't No Sanity Clause (Damned, 1980) [close]

    DamnedThe Damned's "There Ain't No Sanity Clause" (1980) is only sort of a Christmas song, but that didn't stop the infamously cynical UK punk band from marketing it as such. Note that it's "Clause," not "Claus"... The lyrics do, in fact, reference Christmas, but they mostly focus, in turn, on the foibles of the band members Rat Scabies (drums), Dave Vanian (vocals), Captain Sensible (guitar), and Paul Gray (bass). The title, in fact, is derived from a scene in a Marx Brothers movie. First released as a non-LP single, the song later appeared on Rhino's Punk Rock Xmas and lots of Damned collections such as The Chiswick Singles (2011). Note that the "e" in "Clause" gets dropped on a lot of later appearances of the track, but it was definitely "Clause" on the original vinyl.

    The Damned are most famous for being the first punk band from the United Kingdom to release a single, "New Rose" (1976), a studio album, Damned Damned Damned (1977), and tour the United States. But, they went onto a long career with mutiple break-ups and reformations, ultimately emerging as punk elder statesmen. The Damned would never record another Christmas song, but Captain Sensible waxed "One Christmas Catalogue" in 1984, was invoved in the Punk Aid project in 2003, and recorded "Stupid Christmas" as Sensible Gray Cells with Paul Gray in 2023.

  • There On Christmas (Popa Chubby, 2014)
  • There Won't Be Any Snow (Christmas In The Jungle) (Derrik Roberts, 1965)
  • There Won't Be Any Tree This Christmas (Kitty Wells & Johnny Wright, 1969)
  • There's A New Kid In Town
  • There's A Star Above The Manger Tonight (Red Red Meat, 1996)
  • (There's No War On Christmas) When Christmas Is In Your Heart (The Mockers, 2012)
  • There's No Lights On The Christmas Tree Mother, They're Burning Big Louie Tonight (Sensational Alex Harvey Band, 1972)
  • (There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays
  • There's No Santa Claus (Yobs, 1991)
  • There's Nothing I Want More For Christmas This Year (Chubbies, 1995)
  • There's Still Christmas (Clarence Clemons, 1981)
  • There's Trouble Brewin' (Jack Scott, 1963)
  • They Shined Up Rudolph's Nose (Johnny Horton, 1959)
  • Things Fall Apart (Cristina, 1982)
  • (Things That Make Up) Christmas Day (Ral Donner, 1962)
  •  The Things We Did Last Summer (George Shearing Quintet with Nancy Wilson, 1961)
  • Things We Don't Need Anymore (Jenny Owen Youngs, 2007)
  • Thinking About You (This Christmas) (Paul Carrack, 2011)
  • Thirty-Two Feet - Eight Little Tails (Gene Autry, 1951)
  • This Christmas
  • This Christmas (Color TV, 2016)
  • This Christmas (Shoes, 1991)
  • This Christmas (Magic In The Air) (Brinsley Schwarz, 2021)
  • This Christmas Time (Keri Noble, 2005)
  • This Christmas Time (Ben Reel, 2011)
  • This Could Be Christmas (The So So Glos featuring Spider Stacy of The Pogues, 2022)
  • This Is Life (Merry Christmas) (Lumineers featuring Daniel Rodriguez , 2021)
  • This Is My Wish (Kevin Ross, 2014)
  • This Is What I Want (Mary Margaret O'Hara, 2014)
  • This Mess We're In (Sophia Talvik, 2020)
  • This Time Every Year (Saturday Looks Good To Me, 2003)
  • This Time Of The Year
  • This Time Of The Year (Whispers, 1979)
  • This X-Mas (Chris Brown featuring Ella Mai, 2017)
  • This Year Can Kiss My Ass (Meiko, 2020)
  • (This Year's) Santa Baby (Eartha Kitt, 1954)
  • Three Blind Mice Make It to Santa's Village (Bel-Airs, 1961)
  • 364 Days (Murder City Devils, 1999)
  • 365 Days of Christmas (The Linedance Fever, 2012)
  • Three Wise Men & A Baby (Cavedogs, 1991)
  • Through The Winter (Saint Etienne, 2006)
  • 'Til Next Hanukkah (Velouria, 1997)
  • Time For Love (Yuletime Lifters, 2023)
  • Time Of The Season (Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, 2010)
  • Tinsel And Lights (Tracey Thorn, 2012)
  • 'Tis The Damn Season (Taylor Swift, 2020)
  • 'Tis The Season To Be Lonesome (Jacob Lyda, 2011)
  • Tit For Tat (Ain't No Taking Back) (James Brown, 1968)
  • To Heck With Ole Santa Claus (Loretta Lynn, 1966)
  • To Mother At Christmas (Jimmy Martin, 1980)
  • Too Fat For The Chimney (Teresa Brewer, 1953)
  • Too Many Santas (V.D. King, 2023)
  • Townhall Band (Helen Love, 2015)
  • Toyland
  • Toys For Tots (Brute Force, 1967) [close]
    Brute Force, Toys For Tots
    listen / buy

    Brute Force (real name Stephen Friedland) is a fascinating footnote in American pop culture, making strange, acerbically funny music falling somewhere between the woke folk of Phil Ochs and the musical comedy of Tom Lehrer. Early on, Brute Force was associated with the Tokens, working for their Bright Tones publishing company. While there, he wrote the Chiffons' 1965 hit "Nobody Knows What’s Goin' On (In My Mind But Me)," one of the all-time great girl group records (albeit a minor hit). He also placed songs with Del Shannon, Chubby Checker, the Happenings, a young Bernadette Peters, and the Tokens themselves.

    Brute Force made his debut album for Columbia in 1967, working with renowned house producer John Simon. But, with titles like "To Sit On A Sandwich" and "Tapeworm Of Love," Confections Of Love. failed to find much of an audience. He would subsequently release a single on Warner Brothers, "Adam And Evening" (1969), and another album, Extemporaneous (1970), for B.T. Puppy, a label owned by the Tokens.

    It was a 1969 single called "King Of Fuh" that proved Brute Force's downfall. Produced by the Tokens, the song made its way to George Harrison, who wanted to release it on the Beatles' Apple Records. But, it never saw the light of day after Capitol - the label that distributed Apple - heard the song. "All hail the Fuh King," Brute Force sings over and over. Say it out loud, and you'll see why the record went down to its ignominious fate. Apple did press a few thousand copies of the single backed with "Nobody Knows," Friedland's own version of the Chiffons' 1965 hit, making it a highly valued collectors item. Reportedly, Brute Force crisscrossed the country promoting the song, but to no avail. In 2010, "King Of Fuh" was finally released on Come And Get It: The Best Of Apple Records, and both sides of the single appeared as bonus tracks on Bar/None's 2010 CD reissue of Confections Of Love, which Sony quickly reissued for download and streaming. In 2020, Ace Records reissued the single on 7-inch vinyl.

    Brute Force, Confections of Love
    Come And Get It: THe Best Of Apple Records
    Brute Force, O Holy Night

    But, Brute Force remained active well into the 21st century, acting, performing, and producing an assortment of oddball projects. He even experienced something of a renaissance when a new generation of oddballs discovered his music, which you can follow on his website. Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer even started a documentary about Brute Force (tag line, "Who is this Fuh King guy?"), but it never proceeded further than a short 15-minute preview.

    But the reason we're here is Brute Force's Christmas song, "Toys For Tots," a non-LP single released in November to follow up on "Confections Of Love." Well, it might have, sort of been intended as a Christmas single, and, of course, the annual Marine Corps Toys For Tots campaign has a strong association with Christmas - and Christmas music. During the 50's, 60's, and 70's, many popular artists, including Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, and Buck Owens, recorded the iconic 1956 theme song to promote the campaign.

    However, Brute Force's "Toys For Tots" was not associated with the campaign. In fact, it's an original composition that uses toys as a metaphor in a strongly worded anti-war protest song - and never mentions Christmas, by the way. "Johnny won't come marching home anymore," he concludes dryly. Sadly, unlike "King Of Fuh," "Toys For Tots" has all but disappeared. That said, it appeared on Tour De Brute Force (2001), a self-released compilation of sorts that later showed up for download and streaming - better than nothing.

    It's worth noting, as well, that Brute Force recorded a rather untraditional arrangement of a traditional Christmas song, "O Holy Night," sometime later. It appeared first as an undated vinyl 7-inch single on his own Brute Force Records. Based on the appearance of the record label and the characteristics of the performance - including Friedland's youthful voice - my guess is he recorded it sometime during the early 1970's. Regardless, he reissued it as a digital single in 2019, so it is widely available.

  • Toymageddon (Yo La Tengo featuring Ira Glass & Eugene Mirman, 2013)
  • Trim Another Tree (James Apollo, 2014)
  • Trim Your Tree (Jimmy Butler, 1954) Top 100 Song [close]
    Savoy Christmas Blues
    listen / buy

    Over the years, many, many songs have drawn a connection between sex and Christmas. None, however, make that connection more explicit than Jimmy Butler's extended double entendre, "Trim Your Tree." A spirited jump blues, the song distinguishes itself mainly on lyrical content and Butler's lascivious, leering vocal. To say nothing of the many uses of the word "trim," Butler reveals hidden, dirty meanings in virtually every common Christmas image, climaxing with his pledge to "sprinkle my snow" upon his unsuspecting paramour's evergreen. With more recent songs like Snoop Dogg's "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" ("The children were snuggled up, sleeping in bed, my bitch on my jock giving holiday head"), the level of discourse became much more explicit, making "Trim Your Tree" (and similar songs from the mid-50's like the Midnighters' "Work With Me Annie" or the Dominos' "Sixty Minute Man") sound almost quaint by modern standards. I would argue, though, that by standards of the time, "Trim Your Tree" was dirtier by far, and it probably raised much more than eyebrows back in the day.

    Jimmy Butler was a blues singer about whom we know nothing, and "Trim Your Tree" was released by Gem Records, a New York indie label. Butler was backed by the Blues Express Orchestra, which featured saxophonist Freddie Mitchell and seems to have been the Gem house band. Gem doesn't appear to have been a subsidiary of Savoy Records, a much larger New York indie, but their small catalog ended up in Savoy's holdings, and "Trim Your Tree" is a centerpiece of Savoy's Christmas Blues, which has been issued in a variety of formats over the years (read about it). The saucy song shows up frequently on Christmas blues compilations including Document's Blues, Blues Christmas (2005), Richard Weize Archive's Boogie Woogie Santa Claus: An R&B Christmas (2017), and Bear Family's Get Ready For A Groovy And Bluesy Christmas (2024). [back to list] [learn more]

  • Triple Dog Dare (Ralphie's Red Ryders, 2022)
  • Trucker's Christmas (Lee Arnold, 1976)
  • 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
    • Annette & Frankie with the Ventures (1981)
    • Louis Armstrong (1971)
    • Art Carney (1954)
    • Charlie Daniels (2013)
    • Four Tops (1995)
    • Stan Freberg (1955)
    • Harry Kari, aka Yogi Yorgesson (1953)
    • Legendary Stardust Cowboy (2011)
    • John Leguizamo (2001)
    • Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians (1961)
    • Henry Rollins (1991)
    • Huey "Piano" Smith & The Clowns (1962)
    • Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg (1997) Top 100 Song [close]
      Kevin & Bean's A Family Christmas... In Your Ass
      listen / buy

      In 1996, Death Row Records (Suge Knight's infamous hip hop label) released Christmas On Death Row, an album of disappointingly tame rhythm & blues. (read about it). The label's biggest star, rapper Snoop Dogg (together with sidekick Nate Dogg), headlined one of the album's high points, "Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto," a sequel of sorts to James Brown's more imperative original (another Top 100 song). It's a great track, but the Dogg boys would reach the pinnacle of their holiday hijinks the following year with a ghetto-fabulous rewrite of Clement Moore's 1923 poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas," commonly known as "'Twas The Night Before Christmas."

      The adjectives "filthy," "illicit," and "uproarious" hardly do justice to this funky tale wherein a visit from St. Nicholas nets Snoop some "chronic" (i.e. marijuana) to go with his gin and tonic. A "fat, red pimp" from the "north side" comes to visit, packing a sackful powerful smoke. Santa, it seems, has been indulging in some weed himself and, before he leaves, he has cleaned out Snoop Dogg's ample stash of munchies. "Merry Christmas to all you motherfuckers," Santa exclaims, "and to all a good high." Though certainly not for the faint-of-heart, "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" is an unparalleled hoot. In Nate Dogg's own words, it "made a nigga laugh." The song was specially recorded for A Family Christmas... In Your Ass, one of many installments in a series of albums compiled by Kevin & Bean, the legendary morning team for Los Angeles rock station KROQ. [back to list]

  • Tweety's Twistmas Troubles (Mel Blanc, 1959)
  • 12 Bars of Christmas (Sivion, Sareem Poems, Kinetik, Sojourn & Imperial, 2014)
  • Twelve Days (Bitter Hearts, 2005)
  • Twelve Days Of Christmas
  • Twelve Days Of Memphis (Star & Micey, 2010)
  • Twelve Gifts Of Christmas (Allan Sherman, 1963)
  • 21st Century Christmas (Saint Etienne, 2006)
  • 24 Decembre (Pizzicato Five, 2000) [close]

    Pizzicato 5The All Music Guide labels Pizzicato Five "kitsch-pop deconstructionists," and I can't think of a better thumbnail portrait than that. This iconoclastic duo (originally a trio) mashed up pop culture far and wide, translating the characteristically Japanese mania for pop (music, fashion, film, celebrity) into a uniquely postmodern idiom both ironic and heartfelt.

    Their holiday single "24 Decembre" came out just as the band was ending their career, having achieved stardom in their native country long before they built a sizeable cult following in the United States. Compared to Pizzicato's usual cheeky technique, "24 Decembre" sounds almost traditional, setting what I can only presume are holiday-themed lyrics (sung in Japanese) to a propulsive dance beat. Following a breakdown, singer Maki Nomiya chants in English, "We like music, we like the disco sound," and, if you listen very closely, whispers "We are listening to a Christmas song." That pretty much says it all.

    In Japan, "24 Decembre" was released as a CD single in a fancy, 7x5-inch box and, to my surprise, was still in print when I discovered it in 2008. The front cover art bears a close resemblance to their career-spanning compilation CD, Singles (2001), so I suspect the single was released as a promotional advance on the album. Anyway, different mixes of "24 Decembre" later showed up on Ca Et La Du Japon (2001), a cobbled-together final studio album, and R.I.P. - Big Hits & Jet Lags 1998-2000 (2006), the concluding volume of a series of anthologies.

  • 25th December (Everything But The Girl, 1994)
  • 25th Of Last December (Roberta Flack, 1977)
  • Twinkle (Little Christmas Lights) (JD McPherson, 2012)
  • Twinkle Twinkle Little Me (Supremes, 1965)
  • Twistin' Bells (Santo & Johnny, 1960) Top 100 Song [close]
    Christmas Classics
    listen / buy

    The Brooklyn-born Farina brothers stumbled upon immortality in 1959 with "Sleep Walk," a #1 pop hit and indisputably one of the greatest rock instrumentals ever. Santo's soaring steel guitar captured a sort of Duane-Eddy-goes-Hawaiian vibe that will forever be linked to soulful walks on the beach and steamy backseat make-out sessions. With "Twistin' Bells," however, Santo & Johnny went an entirely different direction. Capitalizing on the "Twist" craze that followed in the wake of Chubby Checker's 1960 chart topper, the brothers set "Jingle Bells" to a hip-shaking dance beat, this time emphasizing Johnny's insistent rhythm guitar almost as much as Santo's slide work. It's an irresistible little record memorable for its boundless energy more than its musical innovation.

    "Twistin' Bells" was issued as a non-LP single on the little Canadian American label and rose to #49 on Billboard's Hot 100. It was reissued in 1961 as the b-side of Linda Scott's "Christmas Day," then reissued again in 1962. It appears with some frequency on holiday collections like Rhino's Christmas Classics (1988) and Bear Family's Yulesville! (2019), as well as on The Best Of Santo & Johnny (1997). For the incurable collector, Santa & Johnny have another holiday single, "Bianco Natale" (aka "White Christmas"), issued on 45 in 1967 - but only in Italy, where the boys were quite popular thanks to their ethnic heritage. Much later, Johnny Farina released his own holiday album, Christmas Mine, in 2003. [back to list]

  • 2005 (MXPX, 2005)
  • 2000 Miles
    • Coldplay (2002)
    • Pretenders (1983) Top 100 Song [close]
      Pretenders, "2000 Miles"
      listen / buy

      When the Pretenders started out, they were so full of piss and vinegar (cf. "Precious," "Bad Boys Get Spanked") that I never would have guessed that they'd record a Christmas standard. But, they did - and how! "2000 Miles" is darn near pious, but it sounds like a great Pretenders record while also being obliquely religious, vaguely romantic, and absolutely festive. When first released for Christmas 1983, "2000 Miles" was easily the least acerbic song in Chrissie Hynde's portfolio to date. Impressionistic and nearly ambient, "2000 Miles" paints a perfect post-modern Christmas carol, one where the eternal hope of the season still means something in a world without saviors. Chiming and dreamy where the band was usually strident and aggressive, "2000 Miles" is a singular achievement, both within the Pretenders' catalogue and in the broader realm of Christmas rock.

      Today, "2000 Miles" it ranks up there with the Kinks' "Father Christmas" and Wham's "Last Christmas" as one of the most-covered holiday songs of the modern era. At the time, however, "2000 Miles" was seen as a protest against Britain's war in the Falkland Islands - despite the fact that the Falklands are over 8000 miles away from the UK.

      In America "2000 Miles" was first released as the b-side of "Middle Of The Road," the Top 20 lead single from the Pretenders' last great album, Learning To Crawl. In the UK, "2000 Miles" was released as an a-side with a picture sleeve and a non-LP b-side, "Fast Or Slow (The Law's The Law)," peaking at #15. The song was subsequently included on the Pretenders' retrospectives The Singles (1987), Greatest Hits (2000), Pirate Radio 1979-2005 (2006), and The Best Of Pretenders (2009). The song has also been compiled on The Edge Of Christmas (1995), New Wave Xmas (1996), VH1: The Big 80's Christmas (2001), and Elton John's Christmas Party (2005), among many others. [back to list]

    • Nancy Wallace (2014)

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