Carl’s Rock Songbook #33: The Waterboys, “December”

Have there been good Christmas rock songs? I mean Christmas music here, not happy holidays fare like “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” etc. The classical canon is of course full of beautiful evocations of Christ’s birth, the annunciation, the flight to Egypt, etc. And then there are the carols.  Christmas-wise, rock cannot hold a candle to those traditions, of course, but are there examples of what it has done well in this line?

My favorite example is by the slightly U2-influenced 80s band the Waterboys, with a song called “December.” Quite beautiful, using its length to half-prepare the listener for a bold, even breath-taking, declaration of faith in Our Savior. Perhaps meant to be a response to and appreciation of U2’s “October,” but with a very different feel, one of Christian Hope producing a St. Francis-like readiness “to go anywhere.” Readers with more developed theories about its lyrics are invited to go to town.

A lesser example is Big Star’s “Jesus Christ.” A very effective child-like melody delivered with some distancing devices and warbly singing. The lyrics don’t quite commit the singer to Christian doctrine the way “December” does, but it always comes to my mind ‘round Christmas.

Any others?

A Merry and Blessed Christmas to my pomocon friends, and to All!