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My first thought was that these songs are really odd. And as I had not yet read the liner notes, I thought this must be a bunch of Gen Xers doing some kind of Irony project. And although I haven't ruled out irony as a factor in the release of this compilation, at least now I know these songs to be "song-poems", lyrics submitted for recording to scamming record companies by people like you and me (well, like me, anyway).

However, though I am now wise to the song-poem underground, I don't find the music any less odd. These flights of fancy are such authentic representatives of the genres they represent, that they must be listened to with a degree of earnestness. But then, when I do this, the zany lyrics make me wonder if I am being put on, maybe even by the so-called "starry-eyed" songwriters. It is a weird feeling.

The subject matter indicates that the energy of most of the lyricists seems directed toward making the next big Christmas novelty hit by following formulas of past novelty hits. For example, there are a lot of annoyingly endearing new characters in these songs: Maury, the Christmas Mouse; Randy, the Lil' Elf; the Peppermint Stick Man. There are also a lot "please, Santa" sentiments and Santa himself embracing some new habit or hobby. Before we're done, Santa goes modern, goes disco, and comes on a nuclear missile. What a wildman, that Santa. But far and away the best song on the CD is Christmas Time Philosophy, a Country Gospel tearjerker that paints a hideous Norman Rockwell* portrait of Christmas, the portrait many of us wish to inhabit in spite of its trite connotations.

I like all of the styles represented here. And although The American Song-Poem Christmas is sort of a time capsule, it is remarkably wide-ranging, featuring Pop, Easy Listening, R&B, Rockabilly, and Country songs from the late '50s and early '60s. There is nothing amateurish about the artists who recorded the songs, and, if nothing else, the arrangements are such wonderful representatives of the period that the really bad lyrics sort of highlight the Christmas song form in a strange new way. It celebrates kitsch and exemplifies a "nospam amateur" spirit that has always been appealing during the holiay season (think Elmo and Patsy). This is a really fun record.

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*In some sort of a subconscious slip-up, I first typed "Normal Rockwell". It was such an appropriate pun, that I almost left it that way. But I was afraid people wouldn't understand.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2003)

More

From the liner notes:

The American Song-Poems are fascinating! They are the recordings of people who made deals (which turned out to be bogus) with record companies to record their songs. (I believe people just form garage bands and record their own songs now.) Learn more about the American Song-Poems at American Song-Poem Music Archives.

Various Artists

The American Song-Poem Christmas: Daddy,
Is Santa Really Six Feet Four?

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Track List