I’ll be driving all day tomorrow, so here’s song of the week a day early, courtesy of JPK from Can’t Explain…
John & Yoko and the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” (1971)
I’ve got an inner hippie trying to break out through my chest walls with a message: “War is over! If you want it.” (Or: “What’s so funny ’bout peace, love, and understanding?”) This is one of my favorite Christmas songs, even though it always makes me a little sad, reminding me of Lennon’s murder, Reagan’s ascendance, and Reagan’s calculated indifference to Lennon’s murder, in approximately that order. But I still love to hear it at this time of year and I hope you do too. I’m glad to be part of the Balloon Juice snarling mass of jackals and to all my fellow whiners I say: Happy holidays and best wishes for the new year! You know we’ve got our work cut out for us with that other snarling mass of jackals.
JPL
Drive safely, yadda, yadda, yadda
merrinc
I love this song too. Happy Christmas and safe travels to you, DougJ.
RD
Tyler the Creator has me got interested in rap for the first time in years.
elmertfudd
I sang “Happy Xmas” at the karaoke place last weekend.
Villago Delenda Est
A wonderful song for the season.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
this is my song of the week for this fake time of year
oops, louis armstrong?
gbear
No.
djork
This is my favorite x-mas song.
djork
actually, tied with this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwHyuraau4Q
Mike in NC
Ah, memories: In December 1980 I was a newly-minted naval officer and had just reported aboard my first ship, a rustbucket based north of San Francisco. We were gathered around the wardroom table one morning when news of John Lennon’s murder came on the TV. The captain (a crusty old LDO in his 50s) looked up from his breakfast and muttered, “they ought to shoot all those goddamn hippies!”. The rest of us nearly choked on our coffee at that remark.
Thoughtcrime
@Mike in NC:
Can one be fragged at sea?
Trentrunner
I know Reagan is a shit generally and six ways to Sunday, but what exactly was his “calculated indifference” to Lennon’s murder?
Raven
@Thoughtcrime: Keel hauled.
handy
@Trentrunner:
Reagan’s response, when asked about the murder, was basically, “Well, we need to stop these things from happening.”
Inspiring words, Mr. President-Elect.
Amir Khalid
“This video contains content from EMotherfuckersI. It is not available in your country.”
Litlebritdifrnt
My favorite Christmas song of all time
Greg Lake “I believe in father Christmas”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXCEdrnaFlY&feature=related
U2 Version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3u08NoAhlA&feature=related
Coming in a close second Chris De Burg “A spaceman came a travelling”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmZg7tvGN9o
Villago Delenda Est
@Mike in NC:
I was freezing my ass off as a crusty old 2LT (two months later I’d get the huge promotion to 1LT, good bye, butterbar!) on a field training exercise in Germany, in the middle of a snowstorm in Hessen, just north of Frankfurt, in the Taunus mountains. News traveled quickly, but was confirmed by a local German newspaper that gave some additional details. I was the local German linguist, such as was available, so was asked to do some translation.
Bottom line: no Beatles reunion possible. We all were sad, as everyone was old enough to have first hand knowledge of the band then.
Cat Lady
Christmas. Great cover of The Who classic by Rogue Wave from This Warm December in this warm December.
Raven
@Villago Delenda Est: I was a crusty spec 4 freezing my ass off when we got Sgt Pepper in Korea. I had just started smoking the bud and listening to that on headphones changed my life forever.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@Villago Delenda Est:
the strange thing is, the boomer drugs are now for boners, cholesterol, and sleep, but you still can’t separate them from the perspicacity they acquired as children. woe be to the culture that wants to evolve without them, or at least, without feeling like there needs to be some pretense of indebtitude.
i can’t wait until there are beatle soundtracked alzheimer drugs.
Raven
@Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: what a crock of shit
Schlemizel
@Thoughtcrime:
Its not unheard of for people to fall overboard when at sea but usually fatal – particularly when they have something heavy tied to their ankles.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@Raven:
truth hurts?
joeyess
The shot of that guy at :59 seconds into that video is one of pure, hopeless rage.
Oh my, what have we done?
joeyess
@Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: what the fuck are you talking about? I don’t even know what the fuck that means. None of it.
Raven
@joeyess: Whiny motherfucker lives his life worrying about “generations” and “culture”. Shit
joeyess
@Raven: Is Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal Esperanto for Erick Erickson?
neo no one
Happy Xmas (War Is Over) is even worse than Wonderful Christmastime. If John were alive, you would all agree.
someofparts
How on earth did I miss this. What happened?
joeyess
@someofparts: See the 14th comment. @handy:
The Fat Kate Middleton
My favorite song for this time, too – but did anyone actually watch this video? What we do to children … sweet Jesus.
JPK
@handy: What I recall is him being asked about it as he hurried from one place to another, the question shouted by a reporter. He did his later familiar routine of cupping a hand to one ear, as if he couldn’t hear, then shrugging and smiling and waving. It seemed unbelievably insensitive to me, but maybe I was overreacting.
Dr. Loveless
@handy:
Ironic, too, given what happened to him three months later.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@Raven:
you’re the cute old dude who only has one conversation to have about everything, no need to be in denial about it.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@joeyess:
YAY! Beatles!
forked tongue
John Lennon was the most overrated figure in all of rock and roll, and this is an awful song, as are all Christmas songs ever written except for “Fairytale of New York.”
Steve M.
“Happy Xmas” came out when I was 12. I loved it, but Greg Lake’s “I Believe in Father Christmas,” which also came out in the early ’70s, is the one that stuck with me. My inner hippie couldn’t coexist with my inner grump.
MaryRC
Loathe this song, just loathe it. The smug and self-congratulatory finger-pointing. “What have you done?” The dirge-like tune, the unimaginative and inane lyrics, but most of all those kids squealing “AH ah AH ah”. “AH ah AH ah” … WTH kind of lyrics are those? From someone who had created some of the best pop songs of his generation? If it wasn’t a Christmas song and stores and elevators everywhere didn’t need something to fill the spot between Feliz Navidad and Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, we’d never have heard of this thing.
Savage Henry
You said Happy Holidays! WAR ON CHRISTMAS! WAR ON CHRISTMAS! I’m reporting you to Bill O’Reilly
vheidi
After an excrutiating trip to the p.o. (to which I need to return) I need a flame war about War is Over?
Season’s greetings, all