Christmas Song #11:

Weird Al Yankovic--Christmas At Ground Zero



(So this was the song I was referring I'd include in the Dr. Demento Novelty CD bit. Not that this was hard to guess, since there's probably only one world famous novelty artist... and this is the guy.)

Like many 10 year olds, I thought Weird Al was a genius. But I was the odd one out, as I didn't think he was a genius for the very thing that made him famous (that being, recording parody covers of hit songs). But rather I thought he was a genius for all the stuff on TV and film that he did. Thought AL TV was a riot, loved UHF (and still do... and I think I loved it as a wee boy too, because my first memory of Weird Al was my parents mentioning the VHS copy of this movie and how much I loved it when I was 2 or so), remember liking The Weird Al Show but can't really remember anything about it... and hell, his appearances in the Naked Gun movies were great too.

I don't really remember my opinion on his actual music, but nowadays... I'm more likely to be drawn to his original songs (or his polka medleys) than the parodies he's actually famous for. The above song is one of his originals. It's also one of my favorites.

Weird Al actually has another Christmas song, called "The Night Santa Went Crazy," but I don't find it as subversive as "Christmas At Ground Zero"--and it doesn't really sound Christmas-y at all (although I have absolutely no idea how to quantify that). But "Christmas At Ground Zero" nails every last bit of it. The lyrics take all the cliches of usual Christmas songs of carolers caroling and kissing under the mistletoe--and applies them to an apocalyptic post-nuclear war. It's spot on to the point where I can totally imagine a paranoid 8-year old living through the 80's being absolutely terrified by this song.

Of course, what I find to be the best part is how it apes the sound of the Phil Spector Christmas songs completely perfectly. That glossy, overblown cheerfulness and exuberance that you can hear in the bells and saxophone gives the song a great juxtaposition against the dismal outlook in every other inch of the song. And of course, the Christmas jingle that eventually gives way to the sounds of bombs dropping and sirens blaring--great touch.

It's a song the radio stations should play in December all the time, but since certain terms in the song's title have taken on different meanings in the past 10 or so years, the likelihood of this playing in between Mariah Carey and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra have dropped significantly. Not that a song based on the Cold War was going to get much airplay anyway... but it's still somewhat unfortunate. But it's still here for us to enjoy--all we have to do is head on over to YouTube if we ever want our fix of Weird Al caroling with gas-masked children.