Protest Songs and Cartoons for Christmas Day

With Woody Gurhrie, Jeff Tweedy, Miles Davis, Mavis Staples, Phoebe Bridgers, Phil Ochs, Lou Reed and Steve Earle.

Greg Mitchell is the author of a dozen books, including the bestseller on escapes under the Berlin Wall, “The Tunnels,” and the recent award-winning “The Beginning or the End: How Hollywood—and America—Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” He has directed three documentary films since 2021 for PBS (including “Atomic Cover-up”) . He was #2 editor at the legendary Crawdaddy during the 1970s. You can subscribe to this newsletter for free.

Since this newsletter is subtitled “Music & Politics” I hope you were not expecting maybe “chestnuts roasting on an open fire”? And certainly not “Little Town of Bethelem” where all Christmas celebrations were canceled due to threat of Israeli attacks. Not to mention homelessness and poverty in this country. So here are a few songs and cartoons to mark the day in a “political” way.

In 2012, Stephen Colbert at his old home welcomed Jefff Tweedy, Mavis Staples and a rather haunting Sean Lennon for his papa’s “War Is Over.”

My man Woody Guthrie penned the saga of the dozens of real-life “Italian Hall” deaths of unionists and their kids in a fire—possibly murders planned by labor bossses—in Calumet, Michigan, dubbed “The 1913 Massacre.”

And speaking of Christmas, who can forget Woody’s “Jesus Christ”?

Don’t miss, for a change of pace, Miles Davis’ scathing “Blue Xmas,” with vocalist Bob Dorough. NOT exactly Elvis’s version…

Phoebe Bridgers (plus Fiona Apple) with ye olde Simon & Garfunkel antiwar “7 O’Clock News/Silent Night” but this time for Planned Parenthood and pro-choice.

My old friend Phil Ochs claimed “No Christmas in Kentucky.” Where The jingle bells don’t jingle/ when you’re poor.

Then there’s Steve Earle’s invoking Woody and need for him to return today given the politics of Washington.

Lou Reed on “Christmas in February.”

Meanwhile….