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I Always Start The Christmas Season With This One Song
It’s a December 1st tradition spanning five decades
If you follow me on Facebook, you know that on the first of every month I post a live version of “Born to Run.” Starting the month with The Greatest Song Ever is something I have done for years, but that pales in comparison to how long one song has kicked off the Christmas season for me every December 1st. No matter what anyone says, the Christmas season starts on December 1st, not the day after Halloween or Veteran’s Day or any other time in November; I realize that Advent started on November 27th this year, and I have sent a strongly worded note of protest to the pope about it.
We lived with my grandparents when I was a kid, which means I grew up with the giants of Christmas music: Bing Crosby, Burl Ives, Dean Martin, Connie Francis, Perry Como, Jim Reeves, and a lot of others that still dominate the Christmas airwaves today. Still, none of those started off Christmas for me, even as a child.
At this point I’m sure that Pierce McIntyre, Simon Dillon, Alex Markham, and any other regular readers are thinking that the song is obviously Springsteen’s version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” After all, it appeared when I was nine years old, just after the release of the Born to Run album.
