“Don’t Shoot Me Santa Clause”

by The Killers

Listen to the Song:

[audio:06_Don’tShootMeSanta.mp3]

This is a slap happy desert Christmas song! The video and the song must be watched in unison for the hilarity of this song to be perfectly understood (so we’ve embedded the video below). Musically it’s really fun, and lyrically it brings you through a bizarre plot. Lines like “A Bullet in your what?!” make this song. Brandon Flowers emotion-filled vocals somehow make you feel for this song while you are laughing at it. The musical changes also keep your ear interested and it benefits from the use of non-traditional Christmas song instruments like the horn section. Seeing The Killers rescue their lead singer by sneaking in behind Christmas trees in the desert really explains what makes this song and video so fun.

I am not sure what the exact plot of the song is. Is the protagonist of the song a murderer? Lines like, “oh Santa I’ve been killing just for fun”. Then that would make Santa some sort of avenger stating, “Well the parties over kid, because I got a bullet in my gun!” Then the protagonist of the song spends the rest of the song trying to get out of the punishment Santa is about to dish out; mainly a bullet to the face. While writing this I had the epiphany that the song’s protagonist being a killer is probably a play on the fact that the band is called the Killers a moment of silence for my stupidity at not realizing this earlier please.

Musically chimes open the song up before Santa (Ryan Pardey) and Flowers begin a back and forth that last the entire song. They both bounce back and forth between a true narration and actually singing. This is done really well, and both of their voices contrast well.

The way the song changes after Brandon Flowers asks, “A Bullet in your what?!” is excellent. The drums, bass, and minor guitar that make up the first beats of the song are expanded and joined by piano before they return back to the slower bridge between the chorus’s. Again the song adds instruments after Santa says, “I remember when you were just ten years old playing out there in the desert just waiting for a sip of that sweet Mojave rain.” A Mexican Horn joins the song to emphasis the sweet Mojave rain when Brandon Flowers repeats the word. There are some more chime like synths at the end of this verse. Then after Brandon Flowers gives us an emphatic “woo” we get the songs biggest guitar solo that really feels like the kind of solo you only hear from the Killers.

The awesome video was directed Matthew Gray Gubler, from the television show Criminal Minds. He was also one of the best friends of Joseph Gordon Levitt in 500 Days of Summer. As previously stated to get the full effect of this Christmas rock song you should invest in watching the music video. It’s quite amusing to see Ryan Pardey dance around as a drunken looking Santa with plans to kill the Killers lead singer. He even ties him up in tinsel. It’s a happy ending though as Flowers is rescued by the rest of the Killers.

I love this song, and it shall be a holiday favorite of mine for years to come. It’s a little too new to go any higher on this list, but it definitely deserves to be here with it’s unique sound, and take on the holiday season.

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