In a 2012 Pitchfork review of Sufjan Stevens’ Silver & Gold boxset, Ryan Dombal aptly described the project as “an excavation into Sufjan’s conflicted Christmas heart.” This “excavation,” as Dombal puts it, navigates the multifaceted nature of Christmas, encompassing its spiritual and sentimental beauty alongside its commercial and sometimes painful realities. Dombal highlights the unique value of Stevens’ approach, suggesting that his “bizarre feelings toward all things merry” are beneficial for those of us who grapple with similar holiday anxieties but lack the artistic means to express them. Indeed, diving into Sufjan Stevens’ Christmas music reveals a profound understanding of the season’s complexities, particularly when exploring a track like “We Wish You A Merry Christmas Song.”
Spending time immersed in Sufjan Stevens’ Christmas albums, and the elaborate “frills and flourishes” that accompany them, reveals a deeper truth: articulating the essence of Christmas is a challenging endeavor. This holds true even for those with idyllic, Norman Rockwell-esque Christmas memories. Attempting to weave a coherent narrative from fragmented Christmas experiences is inherently difficult. It’s a form of personal archaeology, a process of sifting through layers of memory, piecing together fragments of the past to construct a present-day story, inevitably filtered through personal biases. This isn’t just the challenge faced when writing about Christmas; it’s a universal experience we encounter annually as the holiday season approaches.
Each year, in the lead-up to Christmas, we engage in this act of memory excavation, making conscious and unconscious decisions about how we want to “keep Christmas.” Some opt out entirely, others adhere strictly to tradition, while many navigate a middle ground, blending new customs with cherished old ones. All these approaches represent our individual attempts to cultivate a “merry” Christmas. But what happens when the quintessential Christmas carol, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas Song,” meets the uniquely introspective and sometimes unconventional style of Sufjan Stevens?
The Spectrum of Christmas Feelings in Sufjan Stevens’ Music
Despite our best intentions, Christmas isn’t always merry. Some years are simply difficult, and even the elaborate spectacle of Christmas can’t lift us from our low spirits. In fact, the forced cheerfulness can sometimes amplify our misery, creating a sense of isolation as we perceive everyone else effortlessly embracing a joy and peace that eludes us. Why can’t we tap into this collective merriment? What are we doing wrong? Is it everything? Perhaps.
Conversely, even amidst personal struggles, the celebration of Christmas can be surprisingly uplifting. We find solace in its familiar rhythms, both sacred and secular, regardless of our attachment to religious or commercial aspects. We appreciate the contrasts – the winter chill against the warmth of homes, the twinkling lights against the long nights, the act of giving and receiving, and the festive atmosphere that distinguishes this season.
More often than not, our Christmases are a blend of both joy and melancholy. Some Christmases stand out as exceptionally merry or profoundly sad, marking extremes on our personal holiday spectrum. This spectrum is precisely what Sufjan Stevens explores in his Christmas albums, celebrating the holiday in all its messy and contradictory glory. Across these albums, Stevens examines the diverse facets of Christmas experience: he playfully satirizes Christmas clichés, sincerely sings of both pain and love, and reinterprets familiar Christmas songs in his distinctive style. For every conceivable Christmas feeling, there seems to be a Sufjan Stevens Christmas song to match. And within this rich tapestry of holiday music, we find his rendition of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas Song.”
Sufjan Stevens’ “We Wish You a Merry Christmas Song”: Quirky Familiarity
“We Wish You a Merry Christmas Song” is not an original Sufjan Stevens composition. It’s a classic English Christmas carol, a relic from a time when carolers were rewarded with treats for their door-to-door performances. Stevens’ version appears on I Am Santa’s Helper, the seventh EP in his Christmas series and part of the Silver & Gold box set. Reviews of this boxset often note the eclectic and somewhat disjointed musical styles of this particular EP, describing moments of “goofball jamming” and a less polished feel compared to other Christmas releases.
Yet, despite these critiques, there’s an undeniable charm in Sufjan Stevens’ rendition of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas Song.” It’s a collaborative effort, likely featuring Stevens alongside members of Danielson, who are credited on the album. However, the recording evokes the feeling of an even larger, more spontaneous gathering of friends and family. This track embodies the “goofball jamming” mentioned in reviews. Musically, it’s intentionally warped and cacophonous, yet it retains the cheerful familiarity of the original melody. It’s wonderfully weird and imperfect, and therein lies its appeal. There’s no slick vocal arrangement, just a group of voices joyfully and rambunctiously singing a beloved Christmas carol.
This particular version of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas Song” resonates deeply because it mirrors personal Christmas memories. It evokes the warmth and joyful chaos of Christmas Eve gatherings, perhaps not perfectly polished, but full of genuine spirit.
Christmas Memories and Imperfect Harmony
Sufjan Stevens’ “We Wish You a Merry Christmas Song” brings to mind Christmas Eve at my Auntie Ria’s house. Every year, our family congregates there for Wigilia, the traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner. Like all traditions, Wigilia has evolved over time. Recipes are tweaked, family members come and go, generations grow up, and things inevitably change. However, the core structure remains: the Wigilia meal, the sharing of the Oplatek (a Christmas wafer broken and shared with personal wishes for the coming year), and the enthusiastic, if slightly off-key, singing of Christmas carols over dessert.
In childhood, the caroling was pure fun. Familiarity with the songs from Christmas choir and the timeless humor of inserting silly lyrics into classics like “Jingle Bells” made it endlessly entertaining. However, in adulthood, the caroling has lost some of its initial luster. With no children to entertain, forced enthusiasm wanes, particularly in recent years, where personal and family hardships have dampened the usual Christmas exuberance. Yet, each year, we still manage to sing a few carols, inevitably including “We Wish You a Merry Christmas Song.” Our family rendition closely resembles the Sufjan version: a medley of loud, happy voices, slightly out of tune, with most participants knowing only the first verse. Sufjan Stevens’ cover of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas Song” might not be conventionally beautiful, but its raw joy and unrefined energy lend it a unique authenticity. It’s a reminder that perfection isn’t the essence of Christmas; genuine feeling is.
Finding Joy in the Messy Reality of Christmas
Ultimately, Sufjan’s Christmas albums, and his rendition of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas Song” in particular, serve as a comforting reminder. They acknowledge Christmas as a complex, challenging, blustery, and sometimes overwhelming time of year, and yet, they embrace it fully, imperfections and all. As we delve into our own “conflicted Christmas hearts,” we can still find comfort and joy in Christmas through family, faith, and the enduring power of traditions, both old and new. There truly is a Sufjan Christmas song for every Christmas feeling, and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas Song” has become a personal favorite – an auditory snapshot of warm, crowded dining rooms, pierogi-filled contentment, and the joyful, slightly chaotic, shout-singing of figgy pudding wishes with family.
