Father Christmas

Father Christmas, give us some money
We got no time for your silly toys
Well beat you up if you don't hand it over
We want your bread so don't make us annoyed

I've been listening to a lot of Christmas music lately, and even picked up the classic Twisted Christmas by the Bob Rivers Comedy Corps for Lisa, who's had a thing for "The Restroom Door Said Gentlemen" for ages. But for my money, the most gloriously subversive Christmas song ever has got to be "Father Christmas" by the Kinks.

But the last time I played Father Christmas
I stood outside a department store
A gang of kids came over and mugged me
And knocked my reindeer to the floor

Ray Davies is, simply put, genius. He opens with a punk-infused anti-establishment riff that pretty much flies in the face of all that's holy in our whitebread, consumerist society. I mean, what's worse than children attacking Santa Claus? What's more unforgivable, more jarring during the holiday season than that? In the hands of a lesser songwriter, perhaps nothing. But Davies, that wicked master of the sleight-of-hand that gave us the gender-bending magnificence of "Lola" isn't content with mere shock value. He is, after all, the same man who gave us The Village Green Preservation Society. He's a nostalgic. He's a traditionalist at heart, even as he refuses to look at the past through rose-colored glasses. So amidst all the abuse and outrage swirling around the assault on Father Christmas, Davies slips in this simple line:

But give my daddy a job cause he needs one
Hes got lots of mouths to feed

Suddenly, the entire song is turned on its ear. These aren't merely roving hooligans attacking Santa out of boredom--they're robbing him because they literally have nothing else. The entirety of their holiday cheer will consist of whatever small change they recover in their theft. This takes on added gravity considered in the light of Great Britain's economic struggles at the time the song was penned--far more severe, I believe, than anything simultaneously suffered in the U.S. Davies doesn't condone the mugging, but he does put it in context, fleshing out those faceless ruffians to redefine them as somewhat less than the pure malice they originally appear as.

Rather than a song skewering Christmas, Davies instead reaffirms the spirit of the holiday--specifically, the compassion and charity that are supposedly the core Christian values, but all too often forgotten or ignored in the tinsel-infused overload of garish celebrations. It's the gloss and glitz of Christmas Davies is attacking in the song, while holding up an uncomfortable mirror to the listener. Are we living up to the true meaning of Christmas? Or are we settling for the cheap convenience of store window Santa decorations?

Have yourself a very merry Christmas
Have yourself a good time
But remember the kids who got nothing
While you're drinking down your wine

Now Playing: The Kinks Misfits