Breeds of Misery: Institutional poverty, dominant white symbology, trying to sing a song with tears in one's eyes
Best/Worst Verse: "Santa Claus, go straight to the ghetto. Don't leave nothing for me - I've had my chance, you see?"
This one isn't actually that miserable - it's rather hopeful, all considered. But it is one of many standout tracks from James Brown's Funky Christmas, perhaps the greatest single Christmas album in the history of the world. The most unsettling thing about the song is the weight (so to speak) given to a fat white man in bringing joy to communities that well-fed white men tend to routinely ignore. Which also gives me a chance to point to a short piece on the reallyreally great blog Black & Smart that I, a middle-class white male, am unqualified to write but is one of the wisest indictments of the White Santa myth I've read:
"Yes LaTonya There Is a Santa Claus...And She Is Black!"
(If this isn't enough yuletide misery for you, check out last year in my Annotated Playlists.)