Blue Christmas • Elvis Presley • Cry of the Soul
Christmas Song of the Day: Blue Christmas, by Elvis Presley.
It was Christmas time 1957, when people started hearing this song play on the radio.
It was new and fresh. It wasn’t Bing, or Nat King Cole, or Sinatra. It was a new kind of Christmas. It was Elvis. That said it all!
At first blemish this song seems simplistic. It is easy to dismiss it as superficial.... But to do so is to commit a common miscalculation - it is to underestimate the depth of the thinking and the heart of the man, Elvis Presley. There is much more there than the rocker of blue suede shoes, and jailhouse rock. There is actually a deep soul there, which one can see if time is taken to listen to his records, especially the many gospel recordings.
Blue Christmas has become one of the all-time holiday classics each year during Christmas time. It is the sad, heartbreaking song about unrequited love which perfectly captures how lonely the season can be without the one you love, which is probably why it's been a staple for over 70 years.
Existential Aloneness at Christmas
This one simple Christmas song represents a soulish cry of support for everyone who has experienced that sort of existential sense of aloneness that can seem most profound and graphic during the holiday season. The song simply chooses the old fashioned word “blue.” The blues.
There is a haunting deep place somewhere in the inner core of the human psyche, an experience of solitude that is so profoundly stark, one can scarce share it with another human being. And it is difficult to find language, words, to express the sensation of that place. Sometimes words are not sufficient. Writers for all time have searched for such language — the primal scream of psychology, the workhouse howl of old England where the grief and trauma of loss found no words to capture it. Only some kind of animal-like excruciating moan of misery. Or the lamentations of Jeremiah, lamenting the unthinkable destruction of one’s homeland, one’s sense of losing his roots, his home, his past, his habitat. Or the New Testament — it speaks of a kind of prayer to God that departs from the limitations of language; it is an “utterance” to Him that is “too deep for words.” And yet, we’re told, that God somehow hears and comprehends those feeble and desperate efforts to reach through the void to a listening ear. The words become unimportant, almost superfluous. He hears the inner cry of deep need and aloneness.
Yet of course in the real world, we seek to find words to express our thoughts and feelings - hence the vast popularity of music. Thus we listen to favorite songs, and seek to “find some words to call our own...” (as songwriter David Gates once put it).
Blue Christmas is one of those songs. Many have chosen those words to call their own at Christmastime. The lyrics are straightforward and plain. They’re not complex or lengthy like a Bob Dylan work of poetry, or an Alanis Morissette journal entry. They speak plainly. People can relate to the message.
And the message does a very simple thing. It validates that so many others are also feeling alone — feeling blue. It assures the listener that, though you may feel loneliness this time of year, you are not “alone” in that experience. There are many of us here with you.
The Story Behind the Song
According to Classic Country Music Stories’ Courtney Campbell (in Blue Christmas: The Story Behind The Classic Holiday Song), Songwriter Jay W. Johnson first wrote the song on his commuter train from his home in Connecticut to New York City. He had been working writing jingles for the radio and was inspired by some of the other hit Christmas songs at the time like White Christmas which blew up thanks to Bing Crosby. He took his lyrics to his composer friend Billy Hayes and together they put the finishing touches on the song. But initially, no one was interested in recording the song when it was offered to various artists around Nashville.
Country artist Ernest Tubb recorded the song after O'Dell and his version ended up hitting number one on the Billboard chart in January 1950. Throughout the '50s, Tubb helped popularize the song and generated interest among other country artists to cover the song. But when the King came around in 1957, he would put his own spin on Blue Christmas that would forever associate him with the holiday tune. What's interesting is he reportedly didn't even want to record it at the time.”
“According to backup singer Millie Kirkham, when they first entered the studio to record the song, Elvis said ‘Let's just get this over with.’ Kirkham added at an interview at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum that everyone in the recording, including backup singers The Jordanaires and guitarist Scotty Moore, felt the same way and didn't believe the studio would actually release the song. But the rock and roll version of the country Christmas song became a major hit on Elvis's first Christmas EP, Elvis Sings Christmas Songs, along with other classics -- Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me), Santa Claus Is Back in Town, and I'll Be Home for Christmas. It has since been covered by some of the greatest musical acts across all genres from The Beach Boys to Martina McBride.
Blue Christmas Lyrics
I'll have a blue Christmas without you
I'll be so blue just thinking about you
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me
And when those blue snowflakes start falling
That's when those blue memories start calling
You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white
But I'll have a blue, blue blue blue Christmas
You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white,
But I'll have a blue, blue Christmas
THE CHRISTMAS ALBUM
Elvis’ Christmas Album (also reissued as It's Christmas Time) is the third studio album and first Christmas album by Elvis. It has been reissued in numerous different formats since its first release. It spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Albums chart. The publication Music Vendor listed Elvis' Christmas Album on their singles charts for two weeks in December 1957 – January 1958, with a peak position of No. 49.
According to the Recording Industry of America (RIAA), Elvis' Christmas Album along with its reissues has shipped at least 17 million copies in the United States. It is the first Presley title to attain Diamond Certification by the RIAA, and is also the best-selling Christmas album in the United States. With total sales of more 20 million copies worldwide, it remains the world's best-selling Christmas album and one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Well, as we said earlier, the message of Blue Christmas does a very simple thing. It validates that so many others are also feeling alone — feeling blue. You are not “alone” in that experience. There are many of us here with you.
Blue Christmas is a sort of pop music support group. Today, this month, maybe be open to notice someone around you who is going through a rough time. Maybe they are feeling alone in the race and just need an encouraging word to help them get over the finish line. Let’s help one another remember that we’re not in this alone.
Have a Merry “Blue” Christmas.
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Enjoy listening to Elvis Presley below.
Here are some favorite tracks from Spotify, as well as a couple of classic videos:
Join us tomorrow for Christmas Songs Day 9.
Here is Elvis Presley on Spotify:
Blue Christmas
Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me
Elvis’ Christmas Album
Here are a couple of classic Elvis videos:
Here is Blue Christmas performed by Elvis live on television in 1968:
Here is Blue Christmas performed as an official animated version:
