A VERY DALY CHRISTMAS Volume 1

Previously released on FW Presents...

FIND YOUR JOY TO THE WORLD! In the first volume of A Very Daly Christmas, brothers Ryan and Neil discuss what Christmas music has meant to them over the years, how it has changed from childhood to adulthood, and each shares a handful of his favorite Christmas tunes.

Let us know what you think! Leave a comment or send an email to: RDalyPodcast@gmail.com.

Check out Neil's original song "Beneath Our Christmas Tree" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qK_zvVpK_k

This podcast is a proud member of the FIRE AND WATER PODCAST NETWORK.

Or subscribe via iTunes as part of the FIRE AND WATER PODCAST: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-fire-and-water-podcast/id463855630

Music this episode: "Christmas All Over Again" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; "All I Want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey; "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl; "Please Come Home for Christmas" by Jon Bon Jovi; "That Spirit of Christmas" by Ray Charles; "Cool Yule" by Louis Armstrong; "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by The Pretenders; "The Nutcracker Suite" by The Brian Setzer Orchestra; "O Holy Night" by Griffin House; "Christmas Vacation" by Mavis Staples.

Thanks for listening and Happy Holidays!

36 responses to “A VERY DALY CHRISTMAS Volume 1

  1. I LOVED this episode, gentlemen. You guys really nailed how much Christmas music means to me, and how different songs evoke different emotions. The good, the bad, the sad, the jubilant, etc. Also, I love Christmas Vacation for much the same reason, because it’s so damn relatable. I AM Clark Griswold at Christmastime, constantly trying to make each year the best, and often getting frustrated and cursing a lot because of it. Plus, I put up WAY too many Christmas lights! That Ray Charles song gets me every time.

    I won’t even quibble over you picking Bon Jovi’s version of “Please Come Home For Christmas” over The Eagles (quiet, Gutierrez!), because it is a good one, and the Crawford connection, which is cool. As was bagging Richard Gere’s grocceries. 😉

    I look forward to more of this next year! You guys should just do a regular podcast together. Daly Brothers Adventures or something.

    Chris

    P.S. For my money, no one beats Nat King Cole’s version of O’ Holy Night. My favorite Christmas hymn as well, even if I am more on the religious side of things. The only thing that knocks it down a peg or two is that hilarious bit on The Simpsons where young Homer’s voice changes in the middle of a powerhouse version of it!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNqOIzrhPEc

    Chris

  2. Very fun show, boys, and I found it heartwarming that Neil would cover for Ryan re: the arrest. What a good big brother he is!

    I have my own list of Xmas songs I wheel out every December, maybe I need to do a show on them….

  3. Here’s a pitch for you: songs that aren’t explicitly meant to be holiday songs that make you think of the holidays anyway. Or alternately, holiday songs you don’t feel guilty about listening to out of season.

    “All I Want for Christmas” is funny for me because I discovered it through the movie Love Actually because I kind of avoid the radio at all costs during the holidays. It’s not that I dislike Christmas music, I just hate feeling like I can’t escape it. I like the holidays at my own pace and dosage levels.

      1. Challenge accepted! There’s several songs that give me the Christmas vibe without being specifically about the season. I offer up the following for your consideration: “Keeping the Dream Alive” – Freiheit, “Plain Song” – Joe Rose, “Lullabye” – Ben Folds Five, “If Time Permits” – Matthew Sweet, “At My Most Beautiful” – REM, “Dear Jessie” – Madonna

  4. Oh my God – Podcast Perfection! How did I fail to realise I needed this in my life?!

    For someone not that “into” Christmas itself, I do love Christmas songs (especially the melancholy ones). I may only have the one Christmas playlist, but – in my defence – it does run to nearly 150 songs. I too have fond memories of the “A Very Special Christmas” compilations – the first two volumes in particular. Can we play along at home & suggest some of our own favourites in this thread? Aside from the sad songs, I have a particular fondness for some of those traditional carols covered / re-invented in a modern style.

    As your gay listener (an old joke – it still works!) I have ambivalent feelings about the use of the ‘f-word’ in “A Fairytale of New York”. The song has an incredibly strong narrative, Kirsty MacColl is one of my favourite artists, and – *within the context of the song’s story* – I don’t personally feel that “that word” has homophobic connotations. (Immediately following the phrase “you scumbag”, I acknowledge that it’s hardly meant to be complementary, but it doesn’t feel wrong within the narrative context of the verse.)

    However, the word’s position and emphasis in the lyric, along with the singalong nature of the song does give it the potential to be delivered out of context by a drunken audience in a much nastier way. I know that some people feel very strongly about this – as they have every right to do – and I happily respect their opinion.

    Very much looking forward to Volume 2 next year – perhaps you could announce the theme in September or October, so that your listeners could suggest some of their own tracks for you to consider?

    Thanks again, Daly bros – this was a great seasonal treat!

    1. Great idea to make a more formal announcement earlier in the fall. It would be very cool (and somewhat interactive) to “name drop” some listener’s comments and thoughts as we go forward. Thanks for listening and your insightful response!

  5. I do generally stick to my Christmas playlist, too. The radio stations really only feature different versions of the same song.

    For me, the first rock Christmas album, Elvis’s Christmas Album, is still the best. Since I’m probably the only Elvis fan under 80, I get why he doesn’t get a lot of airplay any more. Even when he was getting airplay, stations stuck with Elvis’s covers of more traditional songs. My favorite Christmas song is the entendre-laden Santa Claus is Back in Town, written specifically for Elvis by composers-supreme, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. That song is probably why the album was seen as obscene back in the 1950s. I also really like the Aaron Schroeder penned Santa, Bring My Baby Back to Me. Schroder is probably now best known for writing the Scooby Doo theme, but he wrote some really great stuff for Elvis, like Big Hunk O’ Love and I Got Stung.

    Another of my favorites is Christmas Flu, from the Silent Night, Deadly Night soundtrack. Yes, I do have it on my playlist.

    1. I like me some Elvis and I’ve got a couple of his Christmas songs on my playlist.

      I, too, love “Santa, Bring My Baby Back to Me”. In fact, I used that song on episode 15 of my Power of Fishnets podcast.

    2. No argument from me about Elvis’ Christmas songs. In keeping with my more meloncholy musical tastes, I’ve got his “I’ll Be Home on Christmas Day” and “Holly Leaves & Christmas Trees” on many a list! ❤️

      1. Hi Ryan,

        I must have missed that episode. I only discovered the site a few months ago and I’ve spotted listened to a lot of the past shows. On the fishnets, I’ve mostly hit the Zatanna ones. Black Canary is ok, but I can’t stand Green Arrow. I didn’t like him even before he displaced Batgirl in Detective, but after that my dislike grew.

        Neil,

        Those two songs you mentioned were from Elvis’s 70s Christmas album. In general, his output in the 70s was a lot more melancholy. I guess my view on the two albums are pretty much a microcosm of Elvis’s career for me. I like the 70s stuff for what it is, but nothing can touch Elvis in the 50s.

  6. Guys, this was brilliant. More like this. Seriously.

    Cfranks will appreciate this – the only Eagles song I will seek out is their version of “Please Come Home For Christmas.” Great vocals by the biggest jerk in music who isn’t Mike Love!

    How do the Brothers Daly feel about the Christmas guilt songs like “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” and Stevie Wonder’s “Someday At Christmas.” I love Xmas melancholy. Maybe it’s because I’m smart and deep.

      1. Let’s see — Paul Anka, Gene Simmons, Billy Joel… Glenn Frey and Michael Jackson are gone, so it is a less crowded pool.

    1. “One Day at Christmas” is one of my top plays from my Motown-era playlist. And I could go on for hours on all my fave sad, lonely, haunting, meloncholy Christmas songs… like Stevie Wonder’s “Lonley Christmas Tree” or Barbara Streisand’s “My Grown-Up Christmas List!”

          1. That is a great song. I’d only heard one Ron Sexsmith song before (“Hands of Time”) and I can’t remember where I heard it. Must’ve been on a soundtrack or in a TV show.

  7. A great Christmas special, gentlemen. I enjoyed your discussion of the music and the sharing of your family stories.

    Two of my favorite Christmas songs that spring immediately to mind are “The Chipmunk Song” and “What Child Is This?”. In the case of “The Chipmunk Song”, I have fond memories of lip syncing to this song with my two brothers in our old shag carpet-covered family room. In the case of “What Child Is This?”, the real draw for me is the tune. My maternal grandfather was a fan of “Greensleeves”, even wearing a watch that would play that tune on the hour. So, whenever I hear “What Child Is This?”, I’m reminded of him.

  8. Nice show, and you know I’m not a Christmas person, so it’s real praise.

    As such, I have to be able to put my Christmas songs in rotation any given time of the year. I want them to be good songs, not simply seasonal. For example:

    Aliens (Christmas 1988) by the Rheostatics (it’s in the title, but I don’t think it’s actually a Christmas song – the band does play a LOT of winter songs though, still not legitimately Christmas)
    Christmas and Me Are Through by Your Vegas
    Christmas TV by Slow Club

    They’re all pretty freakin’ sad. As am I. Damn, who put me in charge of a Christmas day podcast release?!

  9. A wonderful episode. Thank you so much for sharing.

    My favorite Christmas songs have always been the following (in no specific order):

    1) Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses
    2) (It Must Have Been Ol’) Santa Claus by Harry Connick Jr.
    3) Snoopy’s Christmas vs The Red Baron by The Royal Guardsmen
    Wonderful Christmas Time by Paul McCartney & The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) are always fun.

    Thank you again and Merry Christmas.

  10. Brand new addition to my list. Darlene Love’s “All Alone on Christmas” (written by Stevie Van Zandt and performed by the E Street Band. The only thing missing is The Boss! Funny side story: the song was included in “Home Alone 2” which had a number of scenes shot in Chicago. And Ryan and I both auditioned for bit parts in the movie (long before I moved to LA).

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