At this time of year, carols and holiday songs surround us. They’re on the radio. They’re in the stores when we’re shopping. And this is true everywhere, all over the world. Thus, we rarely think of Christmas tunes as a Southern thing. But Salvation South editor Chuck Reece today offers four distinctly Southern holiday classics.

Elvis and Santa

Credit: Elvis and Santa

 

Tis the season. The holiday season. The time of year when people sing Christmas songs. 

It occurs to me, however, that Christmas songs are not considered particularly Southern. Let’s say you live in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a group of carolers arrives at your doorstep one evening. They will most likely sing “Jingle Bells.” Or “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” Or “Silent Night.” Just like the carolers in Seattle. 

But there is, good friends, Southern Christmas music, so I decided to share four of my favorites, songs that are on my holiday playlists every year. Songs that touch all four bases: the funky, the twangy, the bluesy, and the punky. 

Let’s start with the funky. My home state’s own James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, always hits my playlist with this tune from 1968.

 

James Brown - "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto"

Next, let’s step back a few years in Southern Christmastimes and roll westward to Texas, where one of my favorite holiday tunes was written and recorded by Mr. Willie Nelson in 1964.

 

Willie Nelson - "Pretty Paper" 

“Pretty pencils to write ‘I love you.” Man, I love that line. 

Our Tennesseean friends are partial to an even older tune, released in 1957 by a young man from Memphis named Elvis Presley.

 

Elvis Presley - "Blue Christmas"

 

If someone you love is not with you at Christmas, “Blue Christmas” is a must-listen. And if the person you love best is with you, you should grab that person and dance to “Blue Christmas.” I mean, just listen to it. It’s absolutely perfect for one of those not-quite-slow dances where you can do some up-close wiggling and some spinning and even a dip at the end. 

For our last number today, let’s hop forward four decades—to the ’90s—and back home to Georgia for a tune that isn’t really a Christmas song. But ever since this one came out in 1991, it’s been on my holiday lists, because it just captures so precisely how we all want to feel at this time of year. 

 

R.E.M. - "Shiny Happy People"

I hope this season brings you at least a few moments when you feel shiny and happy. And do your very best, as the song says, to “throw your love around.” 

I hope all of you have the happiest of holiday seasons, whatever you celebrate—be it Christmas or Kwanzaa or Hanukkah or even Festivus. And we would love it this season if you dropped by to visit us a time or two at SalvationSouth.com

 

Salvation South editor Chuck Reece comments on Southern culture and values in a weekly segment that airs Fridays at 7:45 a.m. during Morning Edition and 4:44 p.m. during All Things Considered on GPB Radio. Salvation South Deluxe is a series of longer Salvation South episodes which tell deeper stories of the Southern experience through the unique voices that live it. You can also find them here at GPB.org/Salvation-South and wherever you get your podcasts.