Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

I really should read my own blog.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

In my day, never was longer.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

You are here: Home / Music / Song of the week

Song of the week

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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.

Reader Interactions

40Comments

  10. 10.

    Mike in NC

    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.

    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.

  12. 12.

    Trentrunner

    I know Reagan is a shit generally and six ways to Sunday, but what exactly was his “calculated indifference” to Lennon’s murder?

  14. 14.

    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.

  17. 17.

    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.

  20. 20.

    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.

  22. 22.

    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.

  24. 24.

    joeyess

    The shot of that guy at :59 seconds into that video is one of pure, hopeless rage.

    Oh my, what have we done?

  28. 28.

    neo no one

    Happy Xmas (War Is Over) is even worse than Wonderful Christmastime. If John were alive, you would all agree.

  29. 29.

    someofparts

    Reagan’s calculated indifference to Lennon’s murder

    How on earth did I miss this. What happened?

  31. 31.

    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.

  32. 32.

    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.

  36. 36.

    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.”

  37. 37.

    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.

  38. 38.

    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.

  39. 39.

    Savage Henry

    You said Happy Holidays! WAR ON CHRISTMAS! WAR ON CHRISTMAS! I’m reporting you to Bill O’Reilly

  40. 40.

    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

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