Happy, Happy Christmas

Album: Songs for the Season (2018)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The one original number on Songs for the Season, Ingrid Michaelson wrote this tune about her mother, whom she lost in 2014.
  • Michaelson admitted to Billboard the title is ironic as it's a melancholic track, not happy at all. She explained that she wanted to acknowledge that for many people the holidays are a lonely time as they are missing someone that they love.

    Michaelson added that there's "also something cathartic about hearing somebody sing the thing that you're feeling", especially in the holiday season. She felt it was important to recognize that, while Christmas is a very special time of year for her, there are also some "really, really dark and sad moments."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New Words

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Adele

AdeleFact or Fiction

Despite her reticent personality, Adele's life and music are filled with intrigue. See if you can spot the true tales.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Al Jourgensen of Ministry

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.