David Byrne shares anti-Christmas playlist: “No pagan agenda”
Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has heralded the holiday season with a personally curated collection of songs for “people who hate Christmas music”.
Along with the playlist, the musician had a message for listeners. Byrne shared, “This playlist is not about the solstice, nor does it have some Pagan agenda – it’s rowdy, fun songs that gently poke at and refer to the holidays. Enjoy!”
The playlist, hosted on Spotify, opens with EI GC Y Su Raza Alterada’s hit ‘Ya Llega La Navidad’, before running into Run-DMC’s hit ‘Christmas Is’, which includes poetic lines like “I’m from the ghetto, now this mean I get / No toys or presents beneath my tree.”
Later in the playlist is Prince‘s ‘Another Lonely Christmas’ and Macy Gray’s ‘I’ve Been a Good Girl’. Pulling from every era, Byrne also added the Sufjan Stevens song ‘Did I Make You Cry On Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!)’.
Two Willie Nelson songs make the list, ‘A Dreamer’s Holiday’ and ‘Pretty Paper’, while Billie Eilish’s brother and collaborator Finneas gets an inclusion with ‘Another Year’ after Tierra Whack’s ‘Feel Good’ track.
20 tracks in, Byrne includes the explicit tracks ‘Santa Is A Gay Man’ by Big Freedia, and ‘Sympathy 4 The Grinch’ by 100 Gecs, after which Phoebe Bridgers’ indie-gloom comes soaring in with ‘If We Make It Through December’.
The icon includes a Sabrina Carpenter song, ‘Santa Doesn’t Know You Like I Do’, as well as two Laufey collaborations. Suitably, he rounds everything out with his own song, ‘Fat Man’s Comin”.
The iconic singer is in the midst of the US leg of his Who is the Sky? tour, but recently made time for a quick stop to perform as part of the NPR Tiny Desk concert series, playing four different songs across his setlist.
Byrne has also just released a new single called ‘T-Shirt’, which he co-wrote with longtime collaborator Brian Eno.
Access Bryne’s anti-Christmas Christmas playlist via Spotify below.
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