The singer-songwriter and Talking Heads frontman presents some of his favorite holiday music — including songs by The Pogues, James Brown, LCD Soundsystem and Paul Simon. Find his playlist on Apple Music and Spotify. Also, our film critic Justin Chang shares his list of the best movies of 2024.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Chapter 1: What is the purpose of David Byrne's Christmas Playlist?
This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. It's becoming a Fresh Air tradition that for Christmas, we ask someone who's deep into music and whose work we love to choose some of their favorite Christmas recordings. We started this two years ago with Questlove. Yesterday, we featured John Batiste at the piano, singing and playing some Christmas songs.
Today, we feature David Byrne and his Christmas playlist, which we recorded last Christmas. Byrne is, of course, a founder and the frontman of Talking Heads, which was a seminal new wave band in the 70s and 80s, although calling the band new wave and punk doesn't describe how unique they were or how they expanded out from the stripped-down music they began playing.
Byrne also founded the music label Luwakabop, which releases music of different genres from the U.S. and around the world. The restored version of the Talking Heads' 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense was released last year. It's widely considered one of the best concert films. Byrne also created the Broadway shows American Utopia and Here Lies Love. David Byrne, welcome back to Fresh Air.
Happy holidays. Happy holidays.
Good to be back.
So I want to start by asking you, what are the criteria that you use to compile this list?
I wanted to not take it too seriously, not too seriously, the Christmas list, and have fun. So when I'm putting together these kind of playlists for friends or whatever, I'm thinking, I want them to just have fun. Let's give them something that will bring a little joy. And the holidays, because the holidays can be stressful for a lot of people.
Yeah, and we've got some songs about that, too, that you've chosen.
Yeah, we have that, too. We do have that.
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Chapter 2: What are David Byrne's criteria for selecting Christmas songs?
And I thought, what if I just do that? The arrangement is by a guy named Jarek Bischoff that I'd worked with before. And his arrangement is fantastic. Pretty incredible. Really kind of catches the flavor of when I'm getting this sort of slightly ominous, despite my description of what Santa's up to, as being pretty accurate.
It sounds more like a home invasion.
Yes, yes. The arrangement gives it the appropriate mood.
Absolutely. Let's hear it. This is David Byrne's Fat Man's Comin'.
Coming from the land of the ice and snow. A roly-poly man in the dark he's riding. Everybody knows that he's out there now. Everybody knows that the fat man's coming. His hair is white as the snow.
The man with the bird dreams.
Everybody says that you can't be real. People say it's just my imagination. Everybody claims that they don't believe. But everybody knows that the fat man's coming.
Leaving packages unattended Before you know it, he's come and gone
So that was David Byrne's song, Fat Man's Coming, with David, of course, singing lead, and an orchestration by Jarek Bischoff. I really love that. I hope you do more of that kind of high drama song with Jarek Bischoff orchestrations. Okay, so the next song we should play from your playlist is the Pogues song, Fairy Tale of New York.
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Chapter 3: What is the story behind 'Fat Man's Comin'?
You were handsome, you were pretty queen of New York City. When the band finished playing, they held out for more.
Sinatra was swinging, all the junk they were singing. We kissed on the corner, then danced through the night.
The boys of the NYPD choir were singing, go away babe. And the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day.
Chapter 4: Why is 'Fairy Tale of New York' significant?
Oh my God, it's like heartbreaking from the first verse.
Yeah, because he's in jail because he was... Brunken public. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So I don't think there were like bitter Christmas songs like this when you were growing up. I know there wasn't when I was growing up.
No. No. It was during the 60s and 70s, I think, that I remember there being... songs that sort of criticized Christmas as far as talking about inequality and the emphasis on consumerism and things like that. You started to hear those kind of songs.
Was Talking Heads ever asked to do a Christmas album?
No, no, no. No one thought of that.
And did you ever release a Christmas album on your label, The Wacka Bop? No, no.
I'm... On one hand, Christmas songs are perennial. If you do one that people like, as we all know, every year you hear it again. It starts getting played again and again and again for a few weeks, and then it's gone again. But it comes back. So you're set for your song royalties or whatever. But if it doesn't click, you've just got this embarrassing thing.
That will only be viable for a month.
Yes, only viable for a month and then will be completely forgotten.
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Chapter 5: What does James Brown's 'Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto' convey?
And now, yes, I'll have a drink and go home.
The next song I want to play, David, is I think the saddest Christmas song I've ever heard. It doesn't get much sadder than this. And this is a Prince Christmas song called Another Lonely Christmas. You want to tell us about why you chose this one? Oh, to cheer us up.
Yeah, this is to cheer everyone up. Prince is amazing. And I thought, wait a minute, didn't he do a Christmas song? But he gave it the twist of being an incredibly sad Christmas song, echoing LCD sound system and some of the others. It's kind of like, if you're alone for the holidays, it is deeply sad. Yeah.
And he's alone because his girlfriend died on Christmas Day several years ago. You find that out deeper in the song.
Yeah, he's milking it there.
Yeah, yeah. But he sounds so good on this.
Yeah, yeah. He really gives it. It's a real vocal workout.
Okay, so if you're in the mood for a sad Christmas song, David Byrne has one for you. And here it is, Prince's Another Lonely Christmas Day.
Lonely Christmas Darling, darling You should be there For the ones I dream about You are the one that makes my love shine You are the only one I care for My mommy used to say I always trusted your love. But now I guess that love lies down. Cause baby, you promised me. Baby, you promised me you'd never leave. Then you died on the 25th day of December.
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Chapter 6: What themes are explored in 'Another Lonely Christmas' by Prince?
Chapter 7: How have Christmas songs changed over the years?
We'll be right back. Make him believe he's just another baby boy.
That is really catchy. Yeah, thank you for bringing that. Did you spend any Christmases in church?
Oh, I probably did. My parents went to church when I was young. At one point, I remember they went to a Methodist church, which didn't have a lot of singing. And then they switched over to Unitarian. I asked my dad, why did you all switch? And he said, the music's better.
What music was it? Was it like guitar? No, it wasn't. There was that period in church when it was like very folky?
Yes, there was that period. This was not that. This was going the other way. They had like full-on choirs and classical musicians playing. I mean, it was kind of incredible.
So moving on, this is another anxiety, this is like an anxiety Christmas song. It's Paul Simon getting ready for Christmas Day. Tell us why this one's on your list.
A couple of reasons. I'm a Paul Simon fan, especially his more recent records. I don't know, the last five records or so, I think are some of the best things he's ever done. To my understanding, they're a little bit underappreciated. And this is... part of a long and continuing tradition of Jewish songwriters writing Christmas songs.
Irving Berlin wrote White Christmas, and Phil Spector did a Christmas record. There's a pretty long list, I think. And it's a song that starts off like, hey, we're all excited, we're getting ready for Christmas, and then he talks about somebody who got deployed to Iraq.
His nephew.
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Chapter 8: What is the meaning of 'Who Took the Merry Out of Christmas'?
The weary world rejoices for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees.
Oh, hear Hear the angel voices O night divine O night when Christ was born O night divine. O night. O night divine.
What did you think? Wow. That's very moving.
Yeah. Yeah.
Incredibly moving.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then I noticed some little kind of musical songwriting things, like she sneaks in an extra measure when she holds out a note.
Oh, I hadn't noticed that.
Yeah, little things like that where you go, oh.
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