Today’s Song of the Day is the Swansea Sound’s Happy Christmas to Me. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s I am constantly on the lookout for new additions to my Christmas Songs that Don’t Suck playlist. The cream of this year’s crop is this fine offering from Swansea Sound.
First released in 2020 as a Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club release, it later found its way on the band’s first full length album, Live At The Rum Puncheon from 2021.
Happy Christmas to Me sounds like a record the Buzzcock’s would have been happy to have made. It is Pop Punk that would fit right in on Singles Going Steady. The band features musicians who have been there, done that, most notably in the Pooh Sticks from the late 1980s – early 1990s, or more recently from the Catenary Wires and other bands.
The song’s lyrics skewer the ultra rich, and all they get for Christmas (rocket ships or football teams anyone?) with all our hard earned money. Kind of raises the same question as Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain – who is the real target of their ire? Musk? Bezos? You apparently need a rocket ship to be nominated, so I know its not me, and I’m betting its not you either. But I’ll also bet it’ll give you a blast when you turn it up.
Buzzcocks – Everybody’s Happy Nowadays
For fun, here are the Buzzcock’s performing Everybody’s Happy Nowadays from 1979 (apparently except the audience). A brilliant song which you can find on the equally brilliant 5 star Singles Going Steady (#250 on Rolling Stone’s list of the best albums of all time) . Quite a clever title too, as this is a compilation of some of their best singles.
