#30: The Lockdown! at the Disco Holiday Special!

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TRACK ONE: “It Feels Like Christmas” – A Muppets Christmas Carol OST

Ho ho ho, honeys! It’s your friendly neighbourhood podcast host Amy Roberts here slipping down the chimney, getting covered in Christmas dust and normal dust and maybe some anti-vandal paint to deliver you this – episode #30 of Lockdown! at the Disco and this is The Festive, Holiday Special!

Opening the show there were pals and yours, the muppets with “It Feels Like Christmas” from A Muppets Christmas Carol which is the unofficial Christmas film of Comics Youth and that song is a personal fave of mine too. And the sentiment is spot on.

A lot of us are probably feeling the pinch financially and might be a little worried this year about what Santa will be able to deliver what with the pandemic and all. I hear the north pole is currently experiencing a few minor delays and hiccups but rest assured, I’ve got a letter from Father Christmas right here and he wants me to reassure all of our listeners that he’ll still be delivering some festive magic to every home this xmas.

He also wanted me to play “It Feels Like Christmas” to remind everyone that your pals and your family and the feelings you have them and that they have for you is the bestest gift. Which I think is his way of saying that I’m not getting a PS5 this year *scrunches up paper and throws it away*

Anyway, as usual this is our standard disclaimer that while every effort is made to keep Lockdown! at the Disco a family friendly, wholesome convivial affair that the occasional word or idea might slip through which might not be appropriate for the ears of younger listeners so parental discretion is advised. If you’re an older person listening who would simply like some attention, then feel free to give an older family member a call to double check that you’re allowed to listen to this.

And I’m sure your Aunt Lorraine or your Uncle Steve or your mum will be like, “Please, stop calling me about this every week. I don’t know what a podcast is. And while we’re at it please return my slow cooker” – and other such quandaries.

Other final, minor note – this episode isn’t just about celebrating xmas. This is all about being festive as part of a variety of faiths or the folk who simply get festive for the sake of it – for the party! You’re all valid and beautiful and we’re gonna blow party poppers and eat various selection boxes in celebration with and for all of you on today’s episode.

This next one goes out to my favourite limousine driver from one of the greatest Christmas movies ever made. This is “Christmas in Hollis” by RUN-DMC and you can hear it in Die Hard – a movie which I’m very much looking forward to watching with my family again this year as we do each and every year.

TRACK TWO: “Christmas in Hollis” – RUN-DMC
TRACK THREE: “Christmas Is Going To The Dogs” – Eels

That was “Christmas Is Going To The Dogs” by Eels, and that’s a song that I can’t help but think of the legendary Chrissmukah episodes of The O.C. every time I hear it.

Those episodes were always interesting because they dealt really well with exploring inter-faith celebrations but also the dilemma of how to feel festive when you live in the perennial sunshine trap of California where Winter – or any other season but Summer for that matter – exists. 

Which has gotten me to thinking about what actually is a festive vibe and how do we set one? In the past couple of weeks there’s been a few moments that have left me feeling seriously festive and I’ve been trying to keep a little note of what these moments are.

And I’ve been very scientific with it, I must say. And the conclusions that I’ve come to are that I feel festive when I’m eating a lot – almost grotesque, unnecessary volumes of fairly unhealthy food tbh – but also when I feel cosy and when I feel love.  

There are specific foods and ways to eat them that give you a feeling of festive. It’s not just eating special meals that makes it – it’s eating special meals with special people and sometimes at specific times too, which makes you feel festive.

Likewise, drinking a cup of tea in the evening isn’t necessarily festive. But drinking a slightly spiced cup of tea in the evening while some lights twinkle in the background and a mince pie winks at you from a plate is very, very festive.

And lastly, and potentially the most important of all festive ingredients, is love. And this comes in so many forms. Even just being nice to the people currently serving you in shops is a form of love at the moment and can make you feel festive. But crucially, this can be a difficult time of year for many people and for a lot of reasons and showing some extra love to the people in your life is about as festive as things get.

Naturally, this means showing love to your pals and your family and any romantic partners you might have. But it also extends beyond that to the people you maybe don’t know quite as well or have such a tight relationship with or understanding of. 

Showing some extra kindness to all the people you cross paths with – your neighbours, delivery drivers, postmen, retail workers, baristas, and whomever else is about as festive as you can get.

So remember: If you want to set a Christmas vibe, be kind. Show some love. And also don’t forget to get extra cosy and to enjoy all of your favourite foods – and hopefully with some of the people that you love. Show them how much you appreciate them. 

Which brings me to my final point on this: Lockdown is making this year extra tough for people to see all their loved ones, and to do so in a way that feels safe for everyone involved.

Remember that festive magic doesn’t need to be shared within the same room to exist and to be potent and to be valid. If you love someone, they will feel it and they will share that festive magic with you still from afar.

This is “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by Darlene Love

TRACK FOUR: “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” – Darlene Love
TRACK FIVE: “Christmas Time Is Here” – Vince Guaraldi

That was the wonderful “Christmas Time Is Here” by Vince Guaraldi taken from A Charlie Brown Christmas and it’s by far my favourite Christmas album of all time and probably always will be.

The second it’s December 1st, I slam that album on and I don’t stop listening to it until the decorations come down, to be honest. It’s a tradition I stick to unconsciously, I reckon. But it’s a tradition, nonetheless.

Festive, holiday traditions are so fascinating too in this way. Like, everyone has different ways to celebrate and different things that they do each and every year that become part of their celebrations.

In our family, we watch It’s a Wonderful Life and Die Hard. And on a personal note, I always end the year by watching Gene Wilder’s The Apartment on New Years Eve and have done consistently for about a decade now.

Last year with my partner we watched Satoshi Kon’s Tokyo Godfather’s which is a beautiful Christmas anime about a trio of homeless people who stumble upon an abandoned newborn baby on the streets of Tokyo and try to figure out a way to return it safely to its parents.  It’s one for older listeners though for sure but it’s an absolute gem.

It also features a really great transgender character as one of the leads. Which is especially wonderful considering that it came out in 2003 – which was not a progressive time, let me tell you. But we watched that together last year and it’s now become a new tradition for me to watch it each Christmas.

Traditions are such an important part of how we celebrate, you know? And I think there’s definitely something to be said about how we show ourselves and the people we love some affection and reflection every year that we return to the same tradition.

Christmas – as much as new years eve – is very much a time for reflection in this way. As we return to doing the same special things we did in so many years past, we re-experience them from a new perspective having grown that little bit more since last time we enjoyed it.

And that’s really special.

When you reflect on things this year, remember to go easy on yourself, to live in the moment, and to focus on the joy.

This is Fiona Apple singing “Frosty the Snowman” and it was requested by Comics Youth head honcho Rhiannon:

TRACK SIX: “Frosty the Snowman” – Fiona Apple
TRACK SEVEN: “Krampus (In Love)” – Sad13

That was Sad13 with “Krampus in Love” – a wonderfully sombre Christmas song about the misanthropic folklore figure of Krampus finding love at Christmas.

Since we’re all such goths at heart here at Comics Youth, it only makes sense that we take a moment to pay tribute to the figure of Krampus who is one of the more interesting festive figures, let’s be honest.

Before we go on ahead I’d like to reassure all of our youngest listeners that Krampus isn’t real and Father Christmas actually reassured me about this in his letter to me. He said to say, QUOTE, ‘Krampus is a silly creature I made up to help encourage children to behave themselves and be nice to each other all year round ho ho ho, ho ho ho, -  ho”

I have a feeling Santa might have been on the festive juice when he wrote that, to be perfectly honest.

Anyway, Krampus is a horned goat-like creature from European folklore. Part of the story of Krampus is that the figure punishes children who have misbehaved whilst Saint Nicholas rewards kids who have been good as gold.

Parts of Europe celebrate The Feast of St. Nicholas on 6th December. But, it’s the evening of the 5th where things get super fun with what is known as Krampus night wherein Krampus visits the streets and businesses of various European towns and cities.

And if you do a quick google of some of the wonderful costumes that people create and wear during Krampus night, you’ll discover so many wonderful representations and expressions of Krampus worth enjoying. And it’s also interesting to note that the depiction of Krampus – and the folklore and traditions surrounding the character - can vary depending on the region.

I strongly recommend a good ol’fashioned YouTube bunny hole dive into exploring some of the mythology of Krampys and celebrations involving him if you’re so inclined for such things, because it truly is fascinating.

And now, we have Fall Out Boy with “Yule Shoot Your Eye Out” – get it, Yule, like Yuletide? Yeah, there ya go – and this was requested by Cheesecake.

TRACK EIGHT: “Yule Shoot Your Eye Out” – Fall Out Boy
TRACK NINE: Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” – DMX

That delightful monstrosity right there was legendary hip hop artist DMX performing “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer”. Originally he performed the song just off the cuff as a bit of a joke during a live radio show – because he doesn’t exactly have the voice for a sweet, yuletide anthem – and as the internet is so wanton to do, it quickly went viral and then Spotify eventually persuaded him to lay down the track officially at their studios. And there we have it.

It’s truly the gift that nobody knew they wanted or needed!

Which brings us to this important topic: Buying gifts for the people you love.

Every year, I get super stressed out about buying presents for all my faves. I usually end up overspending and getting too much for people. So this year, I’m trying to exercise a little more restraint and I’ve been trying to think harder about getting gifts that show a person what they mean to me – rather than just wasting money on something mundane or disposable.

It’s an easy trap to fall into, isn’t it? Especially when we’re all as busy as we are. And as stressed as we are. But there are definitely some things to keep in mind when buying gifts for people at any time of the year.

And I was recently reminded about this very well when I spent the other week hanging out with my partner for xmas – since we won’t be able to see each other during actual xmas time – and he got me a lot of really lovely gifts.  

I won’t go into detail about each and every one of them, but suffice it to say they all made me realise how much he pays attention to what I say and what I do. And there was one gift in particular that he got for me, and it was this really cute mug with a gorgeous illustration of some sharks on it.

And I was obviously wild about it – but when he gave it to me he said, “I saw it in the shop and I just thought of you immediately because you love sharks and you’re always talking about them”

When he said that, I thought – Do I really go on about sharks that much? And do I really love them that much? And it’s not something that I’d really realised about myself, but he had done. And as I was contemplating this about myself, I looked down and I realised that I was wearing a pair of socks with sharks on them.

Which is my long-road way of saying that the best gifts aren’t the most expensive thing or simply a thing that is nice – although let’s face it, any and every gift is a lovely to receive off someone you care about – the best gifts are the ones that show that you see someone completely. Sometimes so well that you know them better than they know themselves.

Keep that in mind next time you’re gift shopping, won’t ya? This is “Just Like Christmas” by Low.

TRACK TEN: “Just Like Christmas” – Low
TRACK ELEVEN: “Is This Christmas?” – The Wombats 

That was “Is This Christmas?” by The Wombats and it was requested by Rosa. And that’s a fairly strong question many of us find ourselves asking year-in, and year-out when we’re faced with the endless queues of people lined up to buy things for other people.

Or when we see crowds of people on the news fighting over a highly coveted games console or toy, or those lethal older couples who fight over the last pack of brussel sprouts in the supermarket.

And it can get you down a little, can’t it? Like, is this Christmas? For real? Are the holidays nothing more than a hideously oversized, squeaking cog in the mecha belly of the capitalist robot?!

I mean, maybe? But also, I think we all know that while consumerism is bad, and the true meaning of Christmas is something to do with love and a lot to do with eating five days worth of food in three hours. But also, having things and giving things is real nice. We like our things. And there’s something extremely validating about giving, receiving, and surrounding yourself with the people and the things which make you and your loved ones feel valued and understood.

And with that in mind, here’s two tracks celebrating how great it is have things. Yay, mass consumerism! Please remember to shop local where you can, folks. This is “All the Way” by Chance the Rapper & Jeremiah feat. My boy Hannibal Burress.

TRACK TWELVE: “All the Way” – Chance the Rapper & Jeremiah feat. Hannibal Burress
TRACK THIRTEEN: “8 Days of Christmas” – Destiny’s Child

That was “8 Days of Christmas” by Destiny’s Child and this is the end of our festive, holiday special! As ever, thank you so much for listening and for hanging out with me here today – please be sure to share us with your pals and subscribe to us on Spotify and iTunes and follow us on MixCloud.

Our next episode is going to be a 2020: Year in Review special where we’re only going to be focusing on the good things that have happened this year – because honestly? There’s a been a lot of bad, I know – but there’s been a lot of good worth celebrating from this year, too. We’re recording that episode way in advance so by the time you hear this it’ll already be finished! What a treat.

I wish each and every one of you a very, very happy holidays from all of us here at Comics Youth. We love you, we believe in you, we’d let you eat the last cocktail sausage from the buffet, and give you the last chocolate from the box of Celebrations any day of the week.

Until next time, remember: Everything is not cool, but it can be. Stay safe, stay sassy, and have a very happy holiday.

As requested by Tom, this is Mariah Carey singing the unofficial official theme of xmas every single year and this is Amy Roberts climbing back up the chimney and signing off.

Byeeeeeee!

TRACK FOURTEEN: “All I Want For Christmas Is You” – Mariah Carey