December 15, 1942. England
Beloveds, yes, there’s a tyrannical, multi-indicted sexual assaulter throwing temper-tantrums while threatening to ruin American democracy. And yes, there’s rising Islamophobic and anti-semitic hate-speech and hate crimes throughout the country at every level. And yes, there are wars and genocide and war crimes rippling through the world. But what is art for if not for a time like this?
Photo by Norman Baynard. Circa 1950
This Christmas season is a weird one. Our baubles of light seems dimmer. Our tinsel hangs from branches and boughs that look a little dull and limp. It’s understandable that the general vibe seems off. But the world has been here before. Our history has always collided with our festive traditions. There were wars and famines and unrelenting stateside racial oppression and yet there was also merriment and joy and singing.
December 13, 1942. England
I was just thinking the other day that some of our most treasured Christmas albums were recorded and released when the world was cold and heartless with little regard for things like diversity, equity, and inclusion. Nat King Cole recorded The Christmas Song in 1946, only a year after the end of WW2. His album The Magic of Christmas was recorded in 1960 at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. In between those two
years: a boy named Emmett Till was lynched; the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed (leaving four little Black girls dead); the Greensboro/Woolworth sit-ins were bludgeoning Black teenagers; and the Cold War, McCarthyism, and the Korean War were storming.
Quad City Times. Circa 1959
All of this to say that yes, we’ve faced giants before, and while we didn’t exactly slay them, we did at least lull them to sleep, which is why it’s imperative for the giant-slayers to remain ever watchful – and a-wide-awake.
5 CHRISTMAS SONGS & THE CHALLENGING TIMES IN WHICH THEY WERE RELEASED
James Brown | Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto 1968
Brown’s song was released when protests, riots, and military occupations were still smoldering in cities across America as Black communities grieved Dr. King’s assassination.
John Lennon | Happy X-Mas (War Is Over) 1971
After the success of his Vietnam protest song Imagine, John Lennon realized,"Now I understand what you have to do: Put your political message across with a little honey.” This song was released two years after Lennon and Ono’s "bed-in" protests.
Marvin Gaye | I Want To Come Home For Christmas 1972
Gaye co-wrote the song with Forest Hairston as a tribute to the troops in Vietnam. Though written and recorded in the 70s, the song (part of a never-released Christmas album by Gaye) didn’t reach audiences until the 90s when R&B radio stations played it as a tribute to troops in the Gulf War.
Paul McCartney | Wonderful Christmastime 1979
In August ’79, an IRA bombing kills an English royal and three others leading to “outrage, heartbreak and a heightening of 'The Troubles,' the decades-long Northern Ireland conflict.” Though McCartney’s song wasn’t a response to this tragedy, it was certainly welcomed by fans both in England and Ireland.
Bing Crosby | Do You Hear What I Hear 1962
Though the song, a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis, has been covered by many crooners, Crosby turned the song into a hit in 1963.
Such an interesting topic, thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the playlists & enlightenment on each of the songs, the Marvin Gaye song was cool!