Christmas Kids by Roar

Album: I Can't Handle Change (2010)

Charted: 58

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Songfacts®:

Roar is a Phoenix, Arizona, hard rock band formed by Owen Evans in the late 2000s. In 2016, Evans started moonlighting as the touring drummer for fellow Arizona-based folk-punk band AJJ, but he continued to release records as Roar. "Christmas Kids" is a track from Roar's 2010 debut EP, I Can't Handle Change.
The song is about producer Phil Spector's abusive relationship with his wife Ronnie Spector. Phil Spector was a music producer who was known for his innovative "Wall of Sound" production technique that was popular in the 1960s. He was married to Veronica "Ronnie" Bennett, who was the lead singer of the girl group, The Ronettes, between 1957 and 1974.
According to Ronnie, Phil Spector was controlling and jealous, and he would often physically and emotionally abuse her. She described incidents where he would pull her hair, hit her, and even threaten her with a gun. She also said he would isolate her from her friends and family and force her to stay at home and not work on music.

Appearing unsightly
With devils inside me
If you ever try to leave me, I'll find you, Ronnie

"Phil Spector was said to have hidden his wife Ronnie's shoes so that she couldn't run away," Evans detailed to The Phoenix New Times. "He was rumored to have threatened his wife with a glass casket he kept in the house, saying that he would display her corpse in it if she attempted to escape. Spector was simultaneously writing and producing trite, catchy, pop songs for teens."
The title refers to the twins Louis and Gary Spector that Phil reportedly coerced Ronnie into adopting one Christmas in an attempt to revive their marriage.

The Christmas kids were nothing but a gift
And love is a tower where all of us can live
Ronnie eventually filed for divorce from Phil Spector, citing irreconcilable differences. The singer later wrote in her 1990 memoir Be My Baby that she feared for her life during their marriage, and her mother helped her to escape from him. Louis and Gary Spector also accused their adopted father of engaging in likewise behavior towards them.
Roar released "Christmas Kids" as a single on March 14, 2010. It entered the UK singles chart for the first time in 2023, 13 years later, after it trended on TikTok.

Comments: 16

Jay from Qeen Elizabeth Rodethat so brutal…=(
Ezra from Your Fairy GardenI feel so bad for Ronnie. I never bothered to look into the lyrics until I heard "Christmas Kids were nothing but a gift" It confused me and sent me on a small mission. Ronnie did NOT deserve that and neither did the children. I feel horrible.
U from Nowhere And EverywhereI will never get how someone can do something like that to someone else. I know so many people who've been abused by their "loved ones" and it just doesn't make sense to me. I mean I know that most people who do such things have trauma or mental illnesses and just need help but why give other innocent people trauma? Feel so bad for Ronnie. But even more for the kids. They must've already not had the best life if they were adopted and then this sh*t
SomeoneOh my god. I used to listen to this song every time my dad yelled or hurt me, and it always comforted me, but now I know that the actual song is about abuse. That bad story is soo dark though. I’ll never hear it the same
Spongebob from Bikini BottomI really feel sorry for Ronnie and this is really f'd up
Blade/stuart from Two Cups Of Orange Juice In My Handsi feel so bad for Ronnie :(
Erm…. from …What the hell? My bestie told me to look at this… uhhh….. I wanna unlearn this….
A Human from WisconsinI was told this was about a couple who adopted kids, gave them to eachother, and then murderd the kids...
What...that is so brutal, I mean i knew very light info on what went down but like, WHAT! What a monster....
No from Noshe escaped, but shes dead now
AnonymousThat's really dark, I knew it had some questionable lines but my god-
Maya from TexasNow I know why it sounds really dark when slowed down...
Man from TexasDamn this is a brutal story…
Aline Reis from Brazili always thought that song was about child abuse or something!
Sergio from 1266Umbrella did he abuse da kids?
?Always the good songs with their deeper meanings. But gosh, what a monster..

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