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Okay, after a week in the lab, here it is: the worst best Christmas song ever written

"Yule Tides"

The lights on the bushes were twinkling, the front yard Santas inflated

I should have been feeling jolly, but instead was irritated

It was the twelfth month of the year, and two dozen days into it

The twenty-fifth would be here soon, but I didn’t think that I could do it

Yes, they say that late December is the most magical of seasons

But I was sad at Christmas… for a variety of reasons

[rapid-fire rapping, but bad, like “We Didn’t Start The Fire”]

My New Year’s resolutions fell apart way back in March

I was going to do a fitness program but I didn’t even start

There’s nothing left to watch / since they cancelled Netflix’s Glow

It was a pretty decent for a streaming TV show

Major League Baseball keeps messing with the rules

The universal designated hitter is the handiwork of fools

They’ve cancelled half the minors and are messing with the rest

I don’t think that Rob Manfred has passed the commish test

I used to think that college football had way too many minor bowls

But they cancelled the Bahamas game and I really miss it so 

The IRS has caught on to my tax evasion schemes

And lately I’ve been having “went to school naked” dreams

Why haven’t they made any more Christmas specials in claymation?

And we haven’t even got to the many serious problems with our nation

Yes, everything’s gone all wrong for more than nine straight months

Even this rhyme itself went wrong ‘cause nothing rhymes with months

Will they edit this verse down to fit when they play it on the radio?

I hope they don’t delete but I understand it maybeso

/whoooooooooooaa….

[back to crooning]

Yes, my heart it had been broken

My bank account was running slim

I decided that I should clear my head

With a nice and frigid winter swim

I’d seen a flyer posted at Publix about one week ago

(this song takes place in Jacksonville, I guess that’s a fact that you should know)

It sounded kind of silly, but also maybe weirdly fun

I thought that I might try the annual Polar Bear Swim plunge

So I drove down to the beach, on a chilly Christmas Eve'n

People were gathered, stripping down, the winter winds a breezin'

They’d dive into the water, brave the bitterness and cold

Shock themselves into a new year and toss on out the old

The faces in that crowd were merry, their smiles wide and bright

Their bodies tanned and trim, while mine was pizza doughy white

As I disrobed I began to feel a sudden wave of shame and timidity

Covered my bits and tried to hide until they said "get ready!"

We ran into the water, and the cold it was so frightening

I gasped for air and shivered, but it was also quite enlightening

All my landlocked problems seemed to float off on the tides

The only problem was the current that then took me for a ride

I drifted beyond the breakers and straight on out to sea

It seemed that night the ocean had chose to murder me

What an unfortunate and sad turn my whole saga had taken

I stared up at the moonlight sky, feeling quite forsaken

I looked up at the stars, and out across the water

I guess this is what I get for doin’ something I shouldn’t ougtha

And just as I’d resigned myself to watery oblivion

Something broke the surface, it was shiny, bright and shimmerin’

A horn like rainbow silver golden twisted sugar candy

Was it the pointy nose of walrus, mermaid or manatee?

The beast it fully surfaced, and said “No, my name’s Arlo,

I’m the non-denominational magical holiday Narwhal.”

“I’ve got a broad appeal to folks secular and observant,

And I’m here to save your foolish hide from a Yuletide rip current.”

I said “well, Mr. Narwhal, that’d be right nice, if’n it’s no bother,”

He said “Please, call me Arlo, Mr. Narwhal was my father.”

“And don’t be silly, rescues are just one of my many duties,

And I think you’ll find I have ample merchandising opportunities.

Please meet my friends, the stars of a future cartoon franchise.”

And then surfaced a whole cast of family-friendly animal good guys!

Manfred Manatee and Millard, the Sea Urchin

Randy the Resolution Rabbit (though how he swam I’m not quite certain.)

Jingles the dead raccoon? That’s not even a sea creature.

But we can work him in, there’s plenty of room for features

A dolphin and three octopi, and twelve whale-riding toads

They’ll all be introduced in subsequent episodes

I said, “please can you help me, my commercial-friendly friends,

I’ve decided this water should not be where my story ends.”

“I’d like to go back to shore, I’m feeling newly inspired—

But I don’t think I can swim that far, my arms are cramped and tired.”

My new friends nodded, and they hatched a plan to save me

They’d give me a ride to go along with the new lease on life they gave me

So they formed a flying wedge, their fins and flippers in a linkage

And everyone was nice enough to not comment on my shrinkage

They towed me back to the beach, pushed me ashore with some cursing

Right back where I’d started, the Polar Bear Club was dispersing

One figure was left standing on that moonlit Duval County sand 

The most beautiful person on which my eyes would ever land

She offered my shivering body a clean and fresh dry beach towel

And didn’t even notice the departure of Team Narwhal

I don’t know what she saw in my frigid, sopping wet figure

But for some reason she invited me to join her, for Christmas dinner.

I accepted it and thanked her, and shared that I’d almost died.

She said, “No, you just got swept up in a festive Yule Tide.”

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Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

A weird way of stating that it is Christmas

"Somehow, miraculously, Christmas, a millennias old tradition, has come again."

A strange addition to the Christmas canon, like a new animal or something

"Manfred, the Christmas Manatee who commits insurance fraud"

A thing that we are sad about, and maybe not the obvious thing we are all sad about, because hopefully that’s less of a thing after this year and we’d like to keep cashing satellite radio royalty checks

"The fact that the insurance investigators are catching on to him"

A musical genre that those fools listening out there in Radioland wouldn’t expect to have a Christmas song, but it DOES

"Ska"

A twist to this song that could only be conceived of by a 1960s writer on drugs

"In Florida, your house can't be taken from you in a bankruptcy proceeding."

A Christmas thing you are horny about, you degenerate weirdo

"That Manatees were often confused for mermaids by very sad sailors in the 18th century"

An artist in dire need of a comeback hit that we can try to sell this to

"Manfred Mann (NOT DEAD!)"

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Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

Sea shanty. I will take no further questions.

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Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

First, on the reindeer issue, the names from the song are actually titles bestowed upon them by other reindeer, they have a ceremony very similar to a papal conclave to pick new reindeer to serve as whichever spot is available. Not enough people know about this, maybe we should make a Christmas song about it:

A weird way of stating that it is Christmas

- it’s time to pick a new reindeer

A strange addition to the Christmas canon, like a new animal or something

- Reindeer are selected by a Cervine Conclave

A thing that we are sad about, and maybe not the obvious thing we are all sad about, because hopefully that’s less of a thing after this year and we’d like to keep cashing satellite radio royalty checks

- Vixen died, but we’ll have a new on very soon; as soon as the morning period following this reindeer cooking funeral is completed

A musical genre that those fools listening out there in Radioland wouldn’t expect to have a Christmas song, but it DOES

- Metal

A twist to this song that could only be conceived of by a 1960s writer on drugs

- each actively serving reindeer puts forward one candidate to face the reindeer trials to see if they are worthy to serve, during which they are fed only special cocoa and candy canes until they reach a hallucinogenic state, if they trip but don’t barf they’re good

A Christmas thing you are horny about, you degenerate weirdo

- voting is made by adverse selection, they reindeer poop in front of whomever they least want to serve

An artist in dire need of a comeback hit that we can try to sell this to

- Metallica

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Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

The most important thing I can add is for point one: "It's Christmas, bitch" in the style of "It's Britney, bitch"

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Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

A weird way of stating that it is Christmas

--"Looks like we've brewed up a batch of Christmas again!"

A strange addition to the Christmas canon, like a new animal or something

-- Dale, the Christmas Moonshine Hero- He cooks up batches of his special Christmas Moonshine to bring some holiday cheer to the town

A thing that we are sad about, and maybe not the obvious thing we are all sad about, because hopefully that’s less of a thing after this year and we’d like to keep cashing satellite radio royalty checks

-- The Revenue Man catches Dale the Christmas Moonshine Hero, so there won't be any Christmas Moonshine this year

A musical genre that those fools listening out there in Radioland wouldn’t expect to have a Christmas song, but it DOES

-- Bluegrass

A twist to this song that could only be conceived of by a 1960s writer on drugs

-- The townsfolk bust Dale out of the slammer and toss The Revenue Man into the river, almost assuredly sending him to the hospital with hypothermia, as it's December

A Christmas thing you are horny about, you degenerate weirdo

-- The Christmas Moonshine does wonders for the townsfolk's inhibitions

An artist in dire need of a comeback hit that we can try to sell this to

-- Alan Jackson

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Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

Why don't we take the new character thing in a different direction:

Chappy The Christmas Chapstick That You Found In Your Coat After Putting It On For The First Time This Winter

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founding
Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

In many years, I'm uninterested in the sheer number of unnecessary cfb bowl games. Yet, now that we are losing these games, it is sad. You don't realize what you have until it's gone, which makes for a Christmas classic. I obviously need this song performed by Creed.

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Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

Fairytale of New York falls under the “Christmas but drugs” category, right?

And I think it’s time to introduce Floyd the non-denominational wintertime holiday Marmot to the masses.

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1. "Grandma gut run over by a reindeer" = the drug one

2. There really needs to be a "This is Christmas in a Hardware Store" because it seems like that's every middle-aged man (and I) always end up every Christmas. "All I want for Christmas Is A Grill That Works" or "Have Yourself Some Merry High-Density Air Filters" are possible ideas.

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Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

Suggested lyric, "How can it be Christmas, it's still fucking March?"

Also, you missed a golden opportunity to invent "real" reindeer by throwing out names of fomer Cincinnati players. She would totally buy that there is a reindeer named Munchie.

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Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

trapped inside a video game christmas song in the style of video game music

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Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

We should take a foreign tradition and Americanize it, since that’s what we do with everything else. I propose the Catalonian tradition of Caga Tío, a log that you beat with sticks until it shits candy.

Nora Jones has a primer:

https://youtu.be/o18kwRheh9Y

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Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

Scott has heard my rant about "trendy" animals marketed toward kids a lot. So, to maximize profit, I think the song should be about one of the following:

1) unicorn or narwhal - lots of puns here with HORNS

2) llama

3) flamingo

4) sloth

5) CORGI

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founding
Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

Otters! Everyone loves otters, they should totally be added to the Christmas Animal Canon

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Dec 7, 2020Liked by Scott Hines

The kids love the superheroes, so let's work with that.

1) Jesus- Original Avenger

2) The star the wise men followed was Loki's spaceship

3) We're sad because the sequel to this story may never come, though devout fans believe that Jesus 2: He Will Rise Again will be released someday

4) It's 3rd wave ska

5) I think "Bible is now MCU canon" counts as a 60's drug conclusion under the Royal Guardsmen Postulate

6) Gimme that frankincense, babyyyyy (also, it's what gives the baby Jesus his powers, every origin story needs a good "but I don't have enough [RESOURCE THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A REAL THING] to fight!")

7) We may have painted ourselves into a corner with the genre, but I'm going with Mighty Mighty Bosstones feat. Gwen Stefani

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