Not a rocker, but an actual Celtic folk tune, which is to be expected, as this originally appeared on the Chieftains' own 1991 Christmas album The Bells of Dublin. Co-written with Paddy Moloney of the group, the lyrics are unmistakably Costello, taking a typical Christmas celebration to the title's grim conclusion. For you non-Brits, Dec. 26 is St. Stephen's feast day, historically celebrated as Boxing Day -- for noblemen to "box up" gifts for the servants, as goes the legend, and also marked as a holiday. (Costello did do a song called "TKO (Boxing Day)" on Punch the Clock, but the holiday reference is merely a pun; the metaphor for a troublesome relationship has to do with actual pugilism.) St. Stephen was reputedly one of the first martyrs of Christianity, stoned to death not long after the Crucifixion, which lends a certain gruesome appropriateness to Costello's lyrics. If you're more a Costello fan than a Chieftains fan, this is one of the bonus cuts on the two-disc Rhino reissue of Mighty Like a Rose, an oft-overlooked but worthwhile Costello album that features two co-writes with Paul McCartney and a few cuts from his seldom-seen "Unplugged" show. UPDATE: Costello's The Delivery Man CD from 2004 contains a song called "Bedlam," which he often precedes in concert by saying it's the story of the Nativity. And it kinda is, if the desk clerk at the inn is named Rumsfeld.... FURTHER UPDATE: Costello tries to make the Nick Lowe classic "What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding" into a Christmas song by offering it on Stephen Colbert's Christmas special. He also performs, with Stephen, "There Are Much Worse Things To Believe In," a more explicitly Christmas tune co-written by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne.
"The St. Stephen's Day Murders," Elvis Costello with The Chieftains (Rhino)
Not a rocker, but an actual Celtic folk tune, which is to be expected, as this originally appeared on the Chieftains' own 1991 Christmas album The Bells of Dublin. Co-written with Paddy Moloney of the group, the lyrics are unmistakably Costello, taking a typical Christmas celebration to the title's grim conclusion. For you non-Brits, Dec. 26 is St. Stephen's feast day, historically celebrated as Boxing Day -- for noblemen to "box up" gifts for the servants, as goes the legend, and also marked as a holiday. (Costello did do a song called "TKO (Boxing Day)" on Punch the Clock, but the holiday reference is merely a pun; the metaphor for a troublesome relationship has to do with actual pugilism.) St. Stephen was reputedly one of the first martyrs of Christianity, stoned to death not long after the Crucifixion, which lends a certain gruesome appropriateness to Costello's lyrics. If you're more a Costello fan than a Chieftains fan, this is one of the bonus cuts on the two-disc Rhino reissue of Mighty Like a Rose, an oft-overlooked but worthwhile Costello album that features two co-writes with Paul McCartney and a few cuts from his seldom-seen "Unplugged" show. UPDATE: Costello's The Delivery Man CD from 2004 contains a song called "Bedlam," which he often precedes in concert by saying it's the story of the Nativity. And it kinda is, if the desk clerk at the inn is named Rumsfeld.... FURTHER UPDATE: Costello tries to make the Nick Lowe classic "What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding" into a Christmas song by offering it on Stephen Colbert's Christmas special. He also performs, with Stephen, "There Are Much Worse Things To Believe In," a more explicitly Christmas tune co-written by Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne.
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