Do You Hear What I Hear?: The RAVEONETTES

There are 147 songs in The Hideaway digital archives with the title "The Christmas Song". Seventy-six different artists are represented and, not surprisingly, Nat "King" Cole's name appears over a dozen times as he recorded four different versions of the song commonly referred to as "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)". All but one of those 147 songs is a take on that classic Christmas standard written by Robert Bell and Mel Tormé. That one different song with the same title begins with the line "All the lights are coming on now", is performed by the Danish duo known as The Raveonettes and goes a little something like this:

I'm not really sure when or where I first heard "The Christmas Song" but for some reason, I keep thinking I was at the mall when I heard it, so maybe it was Tillys, The GAP or Old Navy as they seem to have off the beaten path Holiday tunes. Wherever it was I was instantly smitten and easily found the song's title and artist by Googling what I remembered of the lyrics. Imagine my surprise when I looked the song up in CD Trustee (my old CD database before transitioning to Music Collector) and found out I already had the song on the two CDs pictured below, though I had no memory of hearing it before:

"The Christmas Song" was originally released in 2003 as a non-album B-side of "Heartbreak Stroll" and later included on the two 2004 albums above as well as the soundtrack album for the film Christmas With The Kranks.

In 2008, The Raveonettes released Wishing You A Rave Christmas, a four-song Christmas EP which puzzlingly did not include "The Christmas Song". The track would eventually be released on The Raveonettes compilation Rarities/B-Sides in 2011. That same year, "The Christmas Song" was released as a digital 2 track single with both the original recording and an alternate version of the song that I am not too fond of.

Just last year, I had a major obsession with the song as it cast the overwhelming sadness of the holiday, especially remembering recently departed loved ones, in a gauzy haze that soothed my soul. I may have been too into the song at times as I missed an excellent cover version of it by The Quiet Parade.

When asked what "The Christmas Song" by The Raveonettes sounds like, I would say it sounds like Gram Parsons sitting in with Don and Phil Everly while Dan Auerbach accompanies them. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the song in the Comments below.