Caught a bit of 'do they know it's christmas' earlier today, fumed the whole way through (so very, very many things wrong with that song). And then I had do do some running around, and somehow the radio in my car always plays better music than the one in the house. Yes, it's the same station. Haven't figured that out yet. Anyway, so this came on:
Barenaked Ladies - Elf's Lament
(essentially: the elves need a union)
And so a Christmas Eve Fluff diary was conceived! Below the fold, a handful of lefty-ish, political-ish christmas songs.
This was also on the car radio, & it's sort of about economics:
"Rusty Chevrolet" by Da Yoopers
And then it was time for youtube. This one's a gimme:
The Kinks - Father Christmas (live)
not the best audio, but santa!
1977 version:
And I can't think about political music without checking in on Pete Seeger:
Pete Seeger "Snow, Snow"
And hey, what about Woody Guthrie?
Woody Guthrie - 1913 Massacre
Um. No candycane-fluffiness in that. Quite possibly a bit serious for xmas eve. So on to search for a good version of Lennon's Happy Xmas (war is over). First I came across was this-- quite possibly a bit graphic for a fluff diary:
An easier, earlier version:
Found this while I was looking for Guthrie:
Steve Earle-Christmas in Washington
That got serious fast. Well, here's another I came across -- maybe you could make a case for it being political because, um, multiculturalism?
El Vez & Los Straitjackets - Santa's Got A Brand New Bag
Similar reasoning about this one:
The Supreme Fabulettes - You Ruined My Xmas
And I think that's plenty for me. Closing out with those old commies, the Weavers, with one that's not specifically "christmas":
The Strangest Dream - The Weavers
So, what'd I forget? Got any other good ones?
