Off The Record Christmas Special

By Kayla Harper

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!  It’s almost been a year of Off The Record and it’s the season of giving, so, I wanted to do a festive holiday themed-article.  I asked YOU guys for ideas of what you would like to see for this year’s Christmas article and I was overwhelmed with so many, I couldn’t choose just one.  As a result, I’ve compiled all of those ideas into one big festive article, featuring something for everyone!  Think of it as a newspaper, or magazine, featuring multiple festive themed articles!

Of course I appreciate the people who read every article, even the ones that don’t relate to their personal interests.  However, I have included a table of contents below so you can scroll to the sections that interest you most.

Table Of Contents

1. The Most Nonsense Time Of The Year: A review Of Sabrina Carpenter’s Fruitcake EP and Netflix Holiday Special

2. Christmas Doesn’t Save The Year: Twenty One Pilots At The I Heart Radio Jingle Ball

3. ‘Tis The Damn Season:  The Best Original Christmas Songs To Add To Your Holiday Playlist

4.  Merry Christmas: A Christmas Surprise For YOU

 

1. The Most Nonsense Time Of The Year

Call her Sabrina Claus because Sabrina Carpenter is the gift that keeps giving! 

2024 was a big year for pop-music sensation, Sabrina Carpenter, as her music career skyrocketed.  She broke records, headlined her first arena tour, and received her first Grammy nomination, among other feats.  Most recently she teamed up with Netflix to film her holiday special, A Nonsense Christmas.  In which she performs hits from her holiday EP, Fruitcake, along with covers of iconic Christmas songs and skits with celebrity guests.

 

The popularity of the emails i can’t send hit “Nonsense” led Carpenter to write and record “A Nonsense Christmas” and release it at the end of 2022.  The song is equally as nonsensical and catchy as the original, with a holiday twist.  A little under a year later, on November 17, 2023, Carpenter released the Fruitcake EP containing five original Christmas songs, including “A Nonsense Christmas”, and her own take on Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas”.

 

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A post shared by Sabrina Carpenter (@sabrinacarpenter)

Fruitcake is a refreshing holiday soundtrack, with catchy, upbeat original Christmas songs and emotional ballads that encapsulate Carpenter’s sass, humour and honesty, but with some jingle bells sprinkled in.  Below is a ranking and review of all six tracks.

 

A Ranking/Review Of Sabrina Carpenter’s Fruitcake EP

6. “white xmas”

In last place is Carpenter’s cover of the iconic holiday tune, “White Christmas”.  The cover showcases Carpenter’s stunning talent and vocal abilities.  However, the addition of the “Jingle Bells” chorus at the end doesn’t quite do it for me.  It’s random and unnecessary.  There’s no doubt it’s a holiday classic and Carpenter’s cover is among my favourites of many, however, I am a sucker for artist’s original Christmas songs, so standing up to all her originals on the EP, it’s my least favourite.

5. “santa doesn’t know you like i do”

Next is one of Carpenter’s original Christmas songs, which are really hard to rank as they’re all awesome!  “santa doesn’t know you like i do” slides into fifth place simply because it’s the least memorable for me.  A charming confession of love, the singer expressing her devotion to this unreciprocated love, insisting “[santa] won’t bring you somebody that loves you more than me”.  The holidays can be a difficult time for people to spend alone, especially with all the cute couple activities, this song encapsulates that perfectly.

4. “cindy lou who”

Carpenter slows it down on “cindy lou who” as she sings about an exes new lover and how difficult it is to watch them celebrate the holidays together while she still hasn’t moved on and is spending them alone.  The holidays are generally an exciting, warm and happy time.  However, they can also be really sad at times for those who have lost loved ones, or are dealing with breakups.   This song is perfect for explaining that feeling; sometimes the beautiful parts feel depressing when they bring up old memories: “There’s red and green everywhere, but I’m so blue.”

3. “is it new years yet?”

The theme of being “at home with nobody to hold” is clearly a popular theme on this EP.  Unlike the last two tracks, “is it new years yet?” finds a humorous approach to this concept as Carpenter sings over an upbeat track and jingle bells, “I’m sick and tired of this holiday / not good at being present anyway”.  I love Carpenter’s tendency to incorporate her humour into her lyrics through puns and blunt wit and there’s no shortage of it on this track.  “Santa, Santa why do you hate me? I’m a gift, look how God made me.”

2. “A Nonsense Christmas”

“it’s the holiday reeeeeeemix”. The song that started it all, “A Nonsense Christmas” is a fun holiday parody of Carpenter’s hit, “Nonsense”.  Featuring the catchy instrumental and melody from the original, but with lyrics filled of holiday innuendos and humour: “when you’re coming down the chimney, oh it feels so good I need that Charles Dickens…you got a new toy for me / I’m out here trimming the tree / I caught that holiday glee / my true love gave it to me” …to name a few.  The song even has a Christmas-themed “Nonsense”-outro.  “A Nonsense Christmas” is too funny and catchy not to love!

1. “buy me presents”

Think Short n’ Sweet’s “Good Graces”, but holiday-themed -that’s the energy given off from Carpenter’s original holiday hit, “buy me presents”.  The song’s another upbeat holiday track, topped with sleigh bells and Carpenter’s sass.  “If you were a wise man baby you would drop every other ho-ho-ho and put me on top.” Carpenter sings about how her lover should go above and beyond to treat her right, otherwise she’ll find “somebody who will“.  The second verse is another showcase of Carpenter’s humour as she describes Santa Claus as the supposed guy who’s gonna replace her lover who isn’t willing to put in the work.

A Nonsense Christmas: A Review Of Sabrina Carpenter’s Christmas Special

Carpenter says it herself in the opening monologue, “there are holiday specials, but who does musical comedy holiday specials?…A lot of people. But do those specials have celebrity guests?…Yes they do! everyone with a musical comedy holiday special does them with celebrity guests and this is one of those.” However, just because she is not the first to do it, doesn’t change the fact that Carpenter’s “A Nonsense Christmas” is a humorous, festive watch and worthwhile.

Carpenter teamed up with Netflix to film her holiday special featuring performances of her original festive tunes from Fruitcake; as well as covers of classic holiday hits with celebrity guests such as Shania Twain, Chappell Roan, Tyla and Kali Uchis; and lastly, plenty of fun holiday skits performed with various celebrity guests such as Megan Stalter, Sean Astin, Jillian Bell and Cara Delevingne among others.

With exceptional vocals, festive costume changes, an intricate set design, witty light-hearted humour and stunning performances, “A Nonsense Christmas” is a must-watch this holiday season.  I mean, the pocket-sized superstar is too stunning and adorable on her own, how could you not want to watch it!

 

2. Christmas Doesn’t Save The Year

Twenty One Pilots fans around the world were beyond excited when iHeartRadio announced the band would be performing at their annual Jingle Ball -A holiday musical event taking place on multiple nights in different cities and featuring various performers every year.  However, fans were left disappointed when Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun failed to perform a live debut of their holiday original, “Christmas Saves The Year”.  At the request of his oldest daughter, Rosie, Joseph even played his own version of “Jingle Bells” in which he sang, “Jingle Balls”, which Dun filmed for her to see.  I highly recommend the clip below, it’s quite endearing how much Joseph loves his kids and his impromptu piano skills really show how talented he is.

Regardless, the Ohio-duo put on a stellar performance, they played a total of eight songs, opening with the first track from their latest album, Clancy, “Overcompensate”.   Other songs include their hits such as “Heathens”, “Holding On To You”, “Tear In My Heart” and “Stressed Out” (but the Clancy Tour version, which…if you know, you know).  In addition, they played “Vignette” and “The Craving (Jenna’s Version)” off of Clancy.

It is surprising to me that we didn’t get “Oh Ms Believer” or “Christmas Saves The Year”, but this is likely due to the fact that they only had 20-25 minutes on stage and would want to spend that time playing their hits that the majority of the audience would know since they’re not all dedicated tøp fans.  Maybe next year we will finally get a live performance of “Christmas Saves The Year”.

 

3. ‘Tis The Damn Season With The Best Holiday Playlist

Christmas music can be a controversial topic, some people love it, some people despise it, and some are indifferent like myself.  However, I can’t deny that it gets tiring, hearing the same Christmas songs over and over every year.  Yes, they’re classics, but sometimes I need something different.  Turns out, you can still listen to festive music without listening to the same songs repeatedly!  Many artists write their own original Christmas songs, which are usually not excessively played on radio stations, but capture the same holiday glee.  Additionally, there are many songs that are not Christmas songs persay, but have a holiday vibe to them.  With the help of my followers suggestions, we have curated a list of songs you can use to spice up your holiday playlists!  Throw these in with some Christmas classics and you have yourself the perfect soundtrack to all of your holiday festivities! (I have included youtube videos with each of these songs, however, they should be available on all streaming platforms).

 

Sabrina Carpenter – Fruitcake, EP (2023)

-it’s the holiday reeeeeemix-

Corey Taylor (Slipknot and Stone Sour), “X-M@$”, Single (2010)

-Falalalala go FUCK yourself-

Taylor Swift – “Christmas Tree Farm”, Single (2019)

 

Taylor Swift – The Holiday Collection, EP (2007)

– this one has a couple covers of various classics, but features Swift’s originals, “Christmases When You Were Mine” and “Christmas Must Be Something More” from her 2007 holiday CD-

Taylor Swift – “’tis the damn season”, Evermore (2020)

-not a Christmas song, but gives holiday vibes-

Twenty One Pilots – “Christmas Saves the Year”, Single (2020)

Twenty One Pilots – “Oh Ms Believer”, Twenty One Pilots (2009)

-not a Christmas song, but gives holiday vibes, like it even has jingle bells-

 

4. Merry Christmas

If you’ve read this far, here’s a Christmas card because I looooveeee youuuuuuu!

Merry Christmas! by Off The Record