An underappreciated classic

Previously posted treacle aside, I like my Christmas songs like I like my humor– dark. Provides a nice place to whistle.

I went on a big Christmas song kick this year. Here are my current faves:

Buck Owens & Susan Raye: “All I Want For Christmas is My Daddy”: If you’re not driven to drink by the second verse, you’re not alive. (Hat tip to A Truer Sound.)

Ditto Ernest Tubbs & His Texas Troubadours: “Christmas is Just Another Day for Me” and Jimmy Martin: “Christmas is Everywhere Except in My Heart”

Ry Cooder: “Christmas in Southgate”: Appropriate for these hardscrabble days of layoffs and tight credit.

A new fave I don’t know how I’ve missed before is Bruce Robison: “Oklahoma Christmas”

Straightforward: The Legendary Tiger Man: “Fuck Christmas, I Got the Blues”

Nothing like domestic abuse at the holidays from Unknown Hinson: “Black and Blue Christmas”

There’s too many versions of “Blue Christmas” to count, so I won’t.

There’s a whole special subgenre of Christmas drunk songs:

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen: “Daddy’s Drinking Up Our Christmas”

The Red Hots: “Santa’s Too Drunk to Drive”

Dallas’ own Sutcliffes: “Alcoholidays”

Then there’s the granddaddy of all cynical Christmas Carols, The Pogues with Kristy MacColl: “Fairytale of New York.” So good I listen to it year-round.

And finally, to keep it on the bright side, April’s favorite Christmas rocker, which also became a Rock Band 2 track this week: Billy Squier: “Christmas is a Time to Say I Love You.”