Father Christmas (song)

"Father Christmas"
Single by The Kinks
B-side	"Prince of the Punks"
Released	25 November 1977
Format	7" single
Recorded	Begun 1976, completed October 1977 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London
Genre	Rock, punk rock, power pop, holiday music
Length	3:45
Label	Arista 153 (UK) Arista AS 0296 (US)
Writer(s)	Ray Davies
Producer(s)	Ray Davies
The Kinks singles chronology
"Juke Box Music" (1977) "Father Christmas" (1977) "A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy" (1978)

"Father Christmas" is a 1977 single by the English group, The Kinks.^[1][2]

It tells of a department store Father Christmas who is beaten up by a gang of poor kids who tell him to give them money instead of toys, as toys are impractical; and asks that the toys be given "to the little rich boys." At one point, a child asks the narrator to give his/her father a job for Christmas—or, if he must deliver a toy, a machine gun.

The song has been covered a number of times by bands including the Gigolo Aunts, Green Day, Man Overboard, Bad Religion, Warrant, Lit, Bowling For Soup, Save Ferris, Smash Mouth, Cary Brothers, Action Action, Everything, Deer Tick, OK Go, and the Clay Pigeons.

The track appeared in the tv spot for the Unaccompanied Minors and on an episode of That '70s Show and Bob's Burgers.^[3]

The track was included on the Arista compilation Come Dancing with The Kinks and is also available as a bonus track on the CD reissue of the Kinks' 1978 album Misfits.

The b-side to the single was another Ray Davies composition, "Prince of Punks". It was written in the bitter aftermath of Davies' troubled stint as the co-producer for Café Society's debut album,^[2] which was issued in 1975.^[4] Davies wrote as part of the lyrics, "Tried to be gay/But it didn’t pay/So he bought a motorbike instead", in direct reference to Tom Robinson, one of the band members of the short-lived Cafe Society.^[2]

References