The Night Santa Went Crazy

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"The Night Santa Went Crazy"
Single by "Weird Al" Yankovic
from the album Bad Hair Day
B-side "Christmas at Ground Zero"
Released November 26, 1996
Format CD single
Recorded December 1, 1994
Genre Comedy, Christmas music
Length 3:59
Label Scotti Brothers
Producer "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic singles chronology
"Spy Hard"
(1996)		 "The Night Santa Went Crazy"
(1996)		 "The Saga Begins"
(1999)
Bad Hair Day track listing
  1. "Amish Paradise"
  2. "Everything You Know Is Wrong"
  3. "Cavity Search"
  4. "Callin' in Sick"
  5. "The Alternative Polka"
  6. "Since You've Been Gone"
  7. "Gump"
  8. "I'm So Sick of You"
  9. "Syndicated Inc."
  10. "I Remember Larry"
  11. "Phony Calls"
  12. "The Night Santa Went Crazy"

"The Night Santa Went Crazy" is an original song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. The darkly humorous Christmas song is performed as a style parody of "Black Gold" by Soul Asylum, with melodic references to "Mama I'm Comin' Home" by Ozzy Osbourne and "I Believe in Father Christmas" by Greg Lake. It is the twelfth and final track on the album Bad Hair Day.

Contents

Track listing [edit]

The following tracks are on the promo single:

  1. "The Night Santa Went Crazy" – 3:59
  2. "Christmas at Ground Zero" – 3:07

Synopsis [edit]

The song starts with Santa's elves making Christmas presents for good, "Gentile" children. Suddenly, a drunken Santa bursts in with a rifle in his hand, and covered with ammunition. He says, "Merry Christmas to all / Now you're all gonna' die", then proceeds to destroy half of the North Pole, bombing the workshop, murdering elves and holding the survivors hostage, and killing 7 of the 9 reindeer in various gruesome ways (Donner and Vixen were spared, although not without post-traumatic stress disorder). The National Guard and FBI come to restore order, with the Eyewitness News broadcasting the incident and the ensuing battle between Santa and the government forces. Finally, Santa is arrested and locked up in a Federal prison, with the possibility of release for good behavior in 700 years. Vixen gets therapy and Donner is placed in an asylum. The elves get jobs working for the postal service, and Mrs. Claus negotiates film rights for the incident.

Alternate versions [edit]

  • An "Extra Gory" version was made and released on the single for "Amish Paradise." It differs in that Santa is killed instead of imprisoned and the elves file for unemployment, and does not mention the two surviving reindeer, Vixen and Donner. This version is the particularly favored version of Dr. Demento, who regularly plays it on his Christmas shows.
  • Another version was written for the Touring with Scissors tour in 1999. It combines the two versions so that Santa is killed, but the elves still get postal jobs (this version was also played live for most of 2000.) It can be seen on the "Weird Al" Yankovic Live! concert video.
  • An unofficial mash-up exists titled "Black Gold Made Santa Go Crazy," which layers portions of the two songs atop each other to highlight the similarities.

See also [edit]

External links [edit]

"Weird Al" Yankovic
Studio albums
EPs
Compilations
Singles
Videography
Related articles
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