SOUNDTRACK: LETTERS TO CLEO-Ok Christmas (2019).
After a lengthy hiatus and a comeback EP, Letters to Cleo have returned with a Christmas EP.
It’s four songs and the title is a pretty funny indicator that the songs here are not full of great cheer–things are okay.
It’s a bit of a surprise for such a happy-sounding band.
The first song is a fun rocking version of The Kink’s “Father Christmas.” This song always seems happy until you listen to the lyrics. This version is a bit more pop punk than the original, but not by much. However, Kay Hanley has updated the lyrics from
But give my daddy a job ’cause he needs one
He’s got lots of mouths to feed
But if you’ve got one I’ll have a machine gun
So I can scare all the kids on the street
to
But give my daddy a job ’cause he needs one
He’s got lots of mouths to feed
And can you melt down all the machine guns
so the kids are safe on the street
“Miss You This Christmas” is an original that sounds like classic Letter to Cleo and could easily have been written and recorded back in the 90s. Its a song of longing (obviously) with a positive twist at the end–coming home to kiss me New Year’s Eve.
“If I Get Home on Christmas Day” was sung by Elvis. It’s a poppy little number that sounds upbeat and has a lovely lap steel guitar. But it has a lot of questioning about being together for the holidays.
The final song “X Mas Time (Sure Don’t Feel Like It”) I heard recently by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. I assumed it was their song–it suited their sound very well (and its about Boston). But it turns out it was originally by The Dogmatics (which makes sense because it’s a bit too dark for the Bosstones).
It’s the twentieth of December
Rain is coming down
Kenmore squares deserted, now
The college kids have left town
This version is a little less dark than the Bosstones’ since Kay Hanley’s voice is so much prettier than Dicky Barrett’s but it’s still not a very happy ending.
I understand what the band was doing with this OK Christmas, but I do wish it ended a bit more happily. Because that album cover (a great design by Daykamp Creative) is just fabulous.
[READ: December 24, 2019] “Vigil”
This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my fourth time reading the Calendar. I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable. Here’s what they say this year
The Short Story Advent Calendar is back! And to celebrate its fifth anniversary, we’ve decided to make the festivities even more festive, with five different coloured editions to help you ring in the holiday season.
No matter which colour you choose, the insides are the same: it’s another collection of expertly curated, individually bound short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.
(This is a collection of literary, non-religious short stories for adults. For more information, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.)
As always, each story is a surprise, so you won’t know what you’re getting until you crack the seal every morning starting December 1. Once you’ve read that day’s story, check back here to read an exclusive interview with the author.
Want a copy? Order one here.
I’m pairing music this year with some Christmas songs that I have come across this year.
This story is a memory of Christmas Eve, It also includes a bunch of Polish words.
On the Holy Night vigil, Wigilia (which means “to watch” in Polish), the young narrator and his family sat around while his father read “The Night Before Christmas.” They were ready for bed when there was a knock on the door. It was the grizzled, kooky old taxidermist from downstairs.
The man presented them with a large unwieldy package. They invited him in, but he wouldn’t stay. They wished him Wesolych Swiat and closed the door.
The present proved to be a very large carp wrapped in newspaper with a pinkish bronze tail and a gray thick-lipped snout with its white mustachios.
They would never ask where the man acquired such a thing but they also knew it was bad luck to throw away such a gift.
The narrators father didn’t know a lot about fish. He said that when he was a boy, he sold carp one Christmas in front of a butcher shop. He was in charge of spearing the live fish and wrapping them up for the patrons. When the night was over, the butcher offered the last carp instead of payment, but it didn’t look very good, so he took money instead. That’s as close as he ever got to eating Christmas carp.
The narrator’s mother said that her Aunt Helen baked carp in aspic. On Christmas Eve, Gwiazdka, she served a seven fish course. The carp came last and it was the highlight. But his mother didn’t like it.
The story is told from the present, and he says that he remembered this night when he was in college as well. He had disappointed a girlfriend and watched as she threw her lunch into the river–he had made her too upset to eat. Her Ukrainian accent made it all the more dramatic. (The little section about her family not liking him because he was too American, was really funny).
His father started wrapping up the carp and then, surprising everyone in the house, he asked if the young narrator would like to come with him.
It was almost midnight and his father said it would be a special Wigilia treat.
They waked through the city, listening to the church bells ringing and headed over to a manhole. The narrator asked his dad if the fish was in fact dead. “You never know, especially if its kept cold. Trash fish are tough. Wouldn’t be a miracle if it swam off.”
The narrator looks at the fish and swears he sees it move.
The calendar says, It’s December 24. Stuart Dybek, author of Ecstatic Cahoots, would pry open another manhole if given half a chance.
I Just Read About That... 
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