Depressing Christmas Songs

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas Songs
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 23 Nov 07 - 03:54 PM

The last GUEST was me.
Oh, and it got Big Mick crying too.
Now, that's a sight you don't want to see too often.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Nov 07 - 03:52 PM

I claim a top ten place, if not higher, with my "Without you on Christmas Day" (aka Mabel's Song). MGAS counted 60% of the audience crying 3 years ago at Miskin.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas Songs
From: Micca
Date: 23 Nov 07 - 03:27 PM

For out and out depression try listening to "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" it would be easy to make it a real downer

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas Songs
From: GUEST, A well-meaning bystander
Date: 23 Nov 07 - 03:17 PM

I recommend you all search out "Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey" by Lou Monte. If that doesn't make you ashamed of your own species, I don't know what will.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas Songs
From: Little Robyn
Date: 23 Nov 07 - 02:17 PM

How about There are no lights on our Christmas tree
Very sad!
Robyn

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas Songs
From: GUEST, Bat Goddess at work
Date: 23 Nov 07 - 01:35 PM

There's always "Mistletoe Bough" -- bride on Christmas/wedding night playing hide and seek (yeah, and with a houseful of guests) hides in a heavy oaken trunk -- and nobody finds her for many many years. Husband pines away not knowing what happened. Guests have their future Christmases spoiled with the sorrow and mystery.

Lovely song...

Linn

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas Songs
From: GUEST,Bostsean
Date: 23 Nov 07 - 12:53 PM

A Fairytale of New York - Just the best
Christmas (Baby Come Home) - Ronnie Spector, but I like the U2 version
Blue Christmas - Elvis version is the best
I'll Be Home for Christmas - This is a classic, but it's actually preety sad. The song is about a soldier who actually won't be home for christmas
Christmas in the Trenches - Great song
Father Christmas - The Kinks, can't believe nobody's mentioned it yet.
River - Joni Mitchell, I like the k.d. lang version
Hard Times - a great old song about putting a bad year behind you. Mary Black does a great version.

I've been thinking about doing this a bit too.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Jan 07 - 08:25 PM

"Hot Buttered Rum" by T. Ellis & T. Thompson:

When dreary Christmas decorations
Line the streets and filling stations,
And dime-store Santas can't disguise
Their empty hands and empty eyes,
In the dead of winter, when the tinsel angels come,
You're my sweet maple sugar, honey, hot buttered rum.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Beer
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 08:10 PM

Here is on I forgot. Different and sad.
The Rebel Jesus by M. Iafrate (sp.) Also by Jackson Browne I think.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: GUEST,van lingle
Date: 28 Jan 07 - 06:58 AM

"Death Might be Your Santa Claus" by Rev. J.M. Gates was a sermon recorded in the 1920's.

"Merry Christmas from the Family" by Robert Earl Keen.

"Christmas in Prison" by John Prine the one that goes: It was christmas in prison and the food was real good, we had turkey and pistols carved out of wood.

"Fairytale of New York",mentioned above, has got to be the most uplifting downer of a christmas song I've ever heard.

Johnny Cash also did a kind of weepy xmas recitation called something like I Remember Christmas.

Good luck with this project and have a merry christmas... or not.vl

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: mack/misophist
Date: 27 Jan 07 - 09:56 PM

Thanks Beer. First time I've heard that one. Tom Waites with a sharper point and a keener edge. A truly nasty song. I like it.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Beer
Date: 27 Jan 07 - 06:42 PM

Fairytale of New York by The Progues with Kirsty McColl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl5hRPu2_eQ

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 27 Jan 07 - 06:27 PM

God, you really want to get the CD Smothered and Covered by the Handsome Family. They are SO with you on this one. Their christmas song is one you'd love:

"Christmas is the season when most folks kill themselves
Christmas is the reason for all those stupid bells..."

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 27 Jan 07 - 06:11 PM

"Christmas Eve Can Kill You" by (I forget his first name) Linde, whom I believe passed away recently.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Beer
Date: 27 Jan 07 - 05:07 PM

Jesus the Fugitive Prince...David Massengill
Cape Breton Christmas Morn....John Gracie
Silent Night All Day Long..John Prine
Home From The Forest...Gordon Lightfoot
Circle of Steel...Gordon Lightfoot
Pretty Papers..Roy Orbison


First Christmas I love to do. Breaks them up. Me to.
Beer (adrien)

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 27 Jan 07 - 04:33 PM

Hello

The trouble with any Christmas song is that they are all depressing for one reason or other...depending on your point of view!

Blue Christmas? Perleeze...must be one of the worst songs ever written!

I stop listening to the radio stations during December!

However..."I want a hippo for Christmas" has a ring to it!

Best wishes,

Pete

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: SINSULL
Date: 27 Jan 07 - 04:19 PM

Mr. Hankie, the Christmas poo
He loves me and I love you.

Says it all. I really have grown to dislike Christmas.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: GUEST,Maggster
Date: 27 Jan 07 - 04:04 PM

Well there's one song by Fall Out Boy, it's called "Yule Shoot Your Eye Out". I'm not sure if anyone will find it very depressing, but I find it to be a very sad song. I can really relate to the lyrics.

Anyway good luck with the CD.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: LaMarca
Date: 21 Jul 97 - 02:07 PM

Ray Davies, one of the DJs at our local bluegrass station WAMU, had a hit Country record in the late 60'-early 70's that was on of those voice-over recitations about Little Joe, the Orphan Boy, longing to see his Mommy (or was it Santa Claus?) at Christmas. The cruel orphanage director tells him that Santa/Mommy wouldn't be able to find him because he/she would look for him at his old home. Little Orphan Boy goes to his old house and freezes to death on Christmas night... Eddie Stubbs plays this dreadful, doleful ditty on his show occasionally, and it makes me nauseated every time. Good one for the collection, though; I'll try to find the title and record label for anyone desperate enough to request it!

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Jul 97 - 02:59 AM

One of the many things I like about this forum is that it makes me take a closer look at songs that I may have heard before, but maybe didn't pay attention to.I've always liked "First Chrsitmas," but seeing the lyrics posted brought out some of the power of the song that I hadn't noticed. Yeah, it's depressing, but it's a true reflection of the pain a lot of people experience during the holidays.
"Harris and the Mare" is another powerful, depressing Stan Rogers song that deserves a closer look.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: rich r
Date: 20 Jul 97 - 08:28 PM

I just stumbled on another song for the category: "25th of December" by Bonnie Koloc.

Barry,

I was unaware of that detail regarding Stan Rogers death, it adds poignancy to an already tragic loss.

rich r

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Barry Finn
Date: 19 Jul 97 - 08:20 PM

To add about Stan , durning that fire he dragged people (Stan was a big man in more ways) out of the plane several times, and died making yet another rescue attempt. I remember reading somewhere that a seaman, who was rescued, said he was floating in the sea waiting to be rescued ,at the same time Stan died, claimed that singing The Mary Ellen Carter over & over is what helped him to hang on until his rescue. Barry

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Kiwi
Date: 19 Jul 97 - 08:05 PM

I'd suggest "Throw the Yule Log On, Uncle John" by PDQ Bach (Peter Shickele) but it's not depressing.. just amusing and a little anti-Christmas..

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: PattyG
Date: 19 Jul 97 - 12:47 AM

How horrible. There's always an idiot somewhere - the trick is to try and not be *there*. Thanks for the background Bob. All you folks have such a wealth of knowledge and I do appreciate the sharing of it. So Tim, have you given any more thought to the title of your proposed musical venture? PattyG

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Bob Landry
Date: 19 Jul 97 - 12:01 AM

PattyG If I remember correctly, Stan Rogers was returning from a folk festival in Texas on an Air Canada flight to Toronto when some idiot decided to have a smoke in the washroom. He/she started a fire in mid-flight, the cabin filled with smoke and although the pilot made a successful emergency landing at the Cincinnatti airport, several people, including Stan Rogers, were asphyxiated to death. I saw Stan's energy during a performance at the Rebecca Cohn auditorium in Halifax and prefer to think of his song, "The Mary Ellen Carter", as representative of his respect for life.

"And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again!"

Tim - I didn't mean to offend your rights to self-expression but my first post was a knee jerk reaction from my internal biases to the proposed title, not the concept. Keep up the good work with Newfie tunes - my collection keeps growing.

Bob

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: PattyG
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 10:03 PM

Did Mr. Rogers kill himself? (had to ask) PattyG

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From:
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 06:07 PM

My supplementary post about "First Christmas" doesn't seem to have appeared.

Correction first chorus: that should be "silver star". Indeed I have always thought the song should have been called "Silver Star" but Stan Rogers has been dead since 1983 so I can't write him and suggest a change.

Copyright information, always important:

1979 Fogarty's Cove Music, 23 Hillside Ave South Dundas Ontario Canada L9H 4H7

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: rich r
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 05:57 PM

Adding to the fray (or frayed), let me suggest "Detroit December" by Sy Kahn (Recorded by him and also John McCutcheon); "Hot Buttered Rum" by Tommy Thompson (recorded a couple different times by the Red Clay Ramblers); "Please Daddy Don't Get Drunk This Christmas" by John Denver; and of course the ver popular "Big Dead Bird" by Lou And Peter Berryman.

rich r

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Bert Hansell
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 12:57 PM

How about "Joseph Joseph" by Jake Thackray ?

Bert.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: PattyG
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 12:25 PM

Hiya Tim,

Thanks for the lyrics to "First Christmas" (I think!) I have a real love/hate relstionship with Christmas and so I can identify with the varied emotions this holiday can elicit and I, too, have a propensity for somewhat melancholy music. (Although, I'm a *complete* joy to be around! ) I'll search a bit for the lyrics to the other song. I've been visiting some sites where they offer Christmas and holiday tunes. Thanks again. PattyG

Subject: Lyr Add: FIRST CHRISTMAS (Stan Rogers)
From:
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 11:43 AM

Thanks for all the suggestions. I know perfectly well some people will be offended and not buy it, but it's a free country. I've never been noted to be particularly mentally stable myself, and I don't joke in saying that. I have always had a great liking for melancholy songs.

Anyway, controversy sells copy.

For the person who asked, I don't have the lyrics to "The Little Boy Who Santa Claus Forgot" handy, but it was a hit back in the late 40's or early 50's I believe.

Here are the lyrics to "FIRST CHRISTMAS," by Stan Rogers, from "Between The Breaks Live. He apparently first did it on a live CBC Christmas broadcast of Canadian folk singers and appalled them all. He said his justification was to point out the plight of the lonely at Christmas.

This day, a year ago, he was rolling in the snow
With a younger brother in his father's yard
Christmas break -- a time for touching home
The heart of all he'd known, and leaving was so hard --
Three thousand miles away, now he's working Christmas Day
Making double time for the minding of the store
Well, he always said he'd make it on his own
He's spending Christmas Eve alone
First Christmas away from home.

She's standing by the train station, panhandling for change
Four more dollars buys a decent meal and a room
Looks like the Sally Ann place after all
In a crowded sleeping hall that echoes like a tomb
But it's warm and clean and free and there are worse places to be
And it least it means no beatings from her Dad . . .
And if she cries because its Christmas Day
She hopes that it won't show
First Christmas away from home.

In the apartment there stands a tree, and it looks so small and bare,
Not like it was meant to be
The golden angel on the top, it's not that same old star
You wanted for your own
First Christmas away from home.

In the morning, they get prayers, and then it's crafts and tea downstairs
Then another meal back in his little room
Hoping maybe that the boys will think to phone before the day is gone
Well, it's best they do it soon.
When the old girl passed away, he fell apart more every day
Each had always kept the other pretty well
But the kids all said the nursing home was best,
'Cause he couldn't live alone. . .
First Christmas away from home.

In the common room they've got the biggest tree
And it's huge and cold and lifeless
Not like it ought to be
And the lit-up flashing Santa Claus on top
It's not that same old silver star you once made for your own
First Christmas away from home.

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 29-Apr-03.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Rick
Date: 18 Jul 97 - 07:40 AM

How's about Pogues Lullaby of Broadway (?)

It was Christmas Eve in the drunk tank....

Rick.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: RS
Date: 16 Jul 97 - 09:06 PM

Tried to resist but I couldn't ... have to suggest the (parody) song "Christmas, Christmas is Here", done by the Canadian group The Arrogant Worms. It's an upbeat song about an old-fashioned family get-together ... that gradually deteriorates into more & more outrageous behaviour (kind of like the famous Cheers [TV show] episode with the Christmas turkey dinner food fight).

You can check out their web site at: http://www.cyberus.ca/~jeffmay/worms/worms.htm (if you really want to!)

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Moira Cameron, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Date: 16 Jul 97 - 08:38 PM

I've thought about doing the same thing. One sone I'd definitely put on is "Christmas in the Trenches" by John McCutcheon. Another good one is Frankie Armstrong's "Anti-Carol". Good luck!

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Kiwi
Date: 16 Jul 97 - 06:58 PM

I would recommend songs from Savatage's album _Dead Winter Dead_, especially "Christmas Eve, Sarajevo (12/24)" - it starts out with a beautiful string version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlement".. and goes into the only speed-thrash version of "Carol of the Bells" that I have EVER heard! The entire CD is rather depressing, it's a story of a family in Sarajevo...

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: PattyG
Date: 16 Jul 97 - 03:32 PM

Well, I am so warped that I did have to chuckle a bit;) Frankly, I wouldn't call it "Suicide Christmas", rather, something less somber and shocking, perhaps, "A Pensive Christmas" or "Christmas Contemplations".....something else though!

The songs that come to mind are, of course, well known, such as "Blue Christmas" and there's one the Carpenters did that is sad (especially now that she's dead)....hm-m-m can't remember. Unless you want all ballads, perhaps, "Grandma Got Runover By A Reindeer"? Oh, and there's a song called "A Christmas Wish" - I have the sheet music around here somewhere - seems that it is pretty pensive.

My thought here is that those who are naturally depressed at Christmastime will not buy the CD, and if someone is predisposed to depression at this time of the year, that's going to happen anyway. And that is, indeed, one of the worst times of the year for those who suffer from that horrible malady. The folks I know who live in a depressed state, and I know lots, do not purposely play that type of music, so I'm not sure that has to be an issue.

I'm now curious, however, about the two songs you mentioned. Can you direct me to the lyrics? PattyG

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: CWF
Date: 16 Jul 97 - 03:05 PM

If bad taste were gunpowder, this idea of yours would be a weapon of mass destruction. C'mon, give us a break.

Subject: RE: Depressing Christmas
From: Bob Landry
Date: 16 Jul 97 - 12:28 PM

Tim - I appreciate the enthusiasm for Cape Breton and Newfoundland music you've shown in other threads and I get the idea that we share a lot of common interests in those areas. But I cannot stomach your idea for a Suicidal Christmas CD. It hits too close to home. I am living with a suicidal wife for who has had a tough time with the last 20 Christmases due to her inability to deal with society's and business' expectations for a big show at Christmas. It's taken a long time and a lot of effort to get her to relax, cut down the amount of work and expense and return Christmas to our home and family where it belongs. I for one will never buy that CD.

Bob

Subject: Depressing Christmas
From:
Date: 16 Jul 97 - 02:24 AM

No joke. A friend of mine and I are thinking of getting together a Christmas CD of depressing Christmas songs, and calling it "A Suicide's Christmas". Yeah, yeah, but this is a business venture, and besides, I am a naturally melancholy man who grew up on songs of misery.

Stan Roger's "First Christmas Away From Home" comes first to mind as an extremely depressing Christmas song, and indeed his own brother refuses to sing it. Although we would want to stay mostly folk or folkish I have a thought that "The Little Boy Who Santa Claus Forgot" should be done.

Any suggestions? I am sure that there are any number of Christmas weepers out there of which I have never heard.