Everyone gets songs stuck in their heads that just won’t go away. They sneak into your subconscious. They are epic earworms that you find yourself humming uncontrollably, singing in the shower, or tapping the beat to with your foot or ballpoint pen when you should be working. Sometimes they even keep you awake at night. Whether they are current hits, one-hit wonders, movie soundtrack gems, holiday favorites, or songs from your youth, their catchy vocals, riffs, hooks, and choruses seem to linger for days.
Here, those songs find a home, no matter the genre. Here, those epic earworms are revisited, explained, and celebrated. Here, you may find the song that haunts you tomorrow. Here is today’s special Christmas song of the day…and the story behind it.
Today’s Epic Earworm: “Weird Al” Yankovic — “Christmas at Ground Zero”
It wouldn’t be Christmas without watching “A Christmas Story” on television, eating until you get sleepy, and playing that holiday playlist in the background while the children open the thirty gifts that they have left after everyone else is already finished opening theirs. (Pro tip: do not wrap every one of the kids’ gifts individually if you ever want to get to that big Christmas meal.)
Wedged in the middle of songs like “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” “Jingle Bells,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “Wonderful Christmastime,” and all the others, one must sneak in a little “Weird Al” Yankovic just to see if anyone is really listening. “Christmas at Ground Zero” is just the song for the occasion. What better way to make light of what is going on in the world right now than to play a song about celebrating Christmas during a nuclear holocaust? Your crazy uncle who always spouts conspiracy theories and talks about politics while everyone is eating will see you in a new light…
Be Careful What You Ask For
Back in the mid-Eighties, Yankovic was pushed by his record label, Scotti Brothers, to record a Christmas album. In response, he brought them the song “Christmas at Ground Zero.” As you might expect, they quickly relented on the whole Christmas album idea. Nevertheless, Yankovic included the Rick Derringer-produced song on his 1986 album, entitled Polka Party.
Yankovic wanted to film a video and release the song as a single, but the label refused. Undeterred, the parody artist used his own money to film a low-budget video that was mostly black-and-white stock footage from old civil defense films for school children. The result was a hit on MTV, and Scotti Brothers soon caved and let Yankovic release the song.
“Christmas at Ground Zero” was a holiday staple until 2001. After 9/11, everyone started referring to the site of the fallen World Trade Center towers as “ground zero,” and the song’s popularity waned for more than a decade. Over the years, it has slowly worked its way back into the holiday zeitgeist through inclusion on rock radio and shows like “Dr. Demento.”
Don't stop here
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