Christmas with the Yours

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"Christmas with the Yours"
Christmasyours.jpg
Cover art for the single
Single by Elio e le Storie Tese (as Il Complesso Misterioso)
from the album Peerla
ReleasedDecember 1995
Recorded1995
Studio Psycho Studio, Milan, Italy
Genre Christmas, comedy pop
Length4:25(main track), 15:38 (total)
Label BMG
Songwriter(s) Stefano Belisari (as Elio), Sergio Conforti (as Rocco Tanica), Davide Civaschi (as Cesàreo), Nicola Fasani (as Faso)
Producer(s) Claudio Dentes (as Il Produttore Misterioso)

"Christmas with the Yours" is a comedy pop single by Elio e le Storie Tese, featuring lead vocals by Emilian soul singer Graziano Romani, credited together as Il Complesso Misterioso [1] [i.e. "The Mysterious Band", with an ironical reference to the term complesso ["complex"], used in Italy throughout the 1970s to denote pop/rock bands]. [lower-alpha 1] It was originally released in 1995 as a benefit single for Italian anti-AIDS associations LILA (Lega italiana per la lotta contro l'AIDS, in English "Italian League for the Fight against AIDS") and ANLAIDS (Associazione nazionale per la lotta all'AIDS, in English "National AIDS-fighting Association") and subsequently included in the band's compilation Peerla . [1] Superficially intended as a genuine Christmas song, the track is actually a lighthearted parody of the genre, as well as a send-up of charity songs, with particular reference to "We Are the World". [1]

Contents

Structure and lyrics

The song starts with an introduction by keyboardist Sergio Conforti (a.k.a. Rocco Tanica), who uses a synthesized French horn timbre – similar to the one used by Quincy Jones at the very start of "We Are the World" – to play two short quotes from "Jingle Bells" and "White Christmas"; this is followed by a piano passage vaguely reminiscent of Roberto Vecchioni's 1971 song "Luci a San Siro", after which Romani starts singing in a deliberately hoarse voice and a dramatic tone. [1] The lyrics to the song are written in an over-simplified form of English, with a few lines in Italian, as a satirical list of stereotypical Italian traditions during the Christmas holiday period. Elio sings three lines in the second verse, while the choruses are sung by Romani with the rest of the band – joined, on the final chorus, by various DJs and hosts from Radio Deejay (specifically uncredited), who perform in the style of a gospel choir, with additional percussion and handclaps. Before the ending chorus, the song also features a melodic guitar solo by guitarist Davide Civaschi, a.k.a. Cesàreo.

Lyrics

I am in the room, waiting for Santa and for Claus.
Suddenly by night they will arrive,
Can't you feel the typical cling-cling-cling-cling-cling?
Presents for the good, coal for the bad,
Proprio come diceva mia mamma!
Christmas with the yours, Easter what you want,
Peace between Blur and Oasis!
Christmas with the yours, Easter what you want,
Don't throw atomic bombs because it's Christmas time!
Panettone is on the table, and everybody's drinking Moscato

Panettone is the traditional Christmas cake from Milan. The first half of the line is a parody of "The book is on the table", one of the first English sentences which Italian schoolboys learning English are usually taught; the word Moscato, the name of a famous Italian sparkling wine, is pronounced as Moss-KAY-doh, again in a strong American accent.

Go to buy a tree, but not a true tree,
Because otherwise it would die-die-die-die-die!
Panettone is on the table, but it is another one.
Infatti è quello senza canditi!
Christmas with the yours, Easter what you want,
Peace between Lino and Cecchetto!
Christmas with the yours, Easter what you want,
Don't drop atomic bombs, at least at Christmas time!
Oh, it's Christmas time,
Please don't drop the bomb, don't drop it!
Proprio come diceva mia mamma.
Sai come diceva mia mamma?

After the solo, Romani and the choir from Radio Deejay (mentioned above) sing a gospel rendition of the "Lino and Cecchetto" version of the chorus; Romani concludes with "Living the refreshing world of Christmas!" and "Monsieur Chirac, garde la bombe avec toi!". The intentional malapropism refreshing alludes to a jingle for Italy's popular "Brooklyn" brand of chewing gum ("Feel the refreshing world of Brooklyn!"), sung by Romani himself in 1980, while the French line, meaning Mister Chirac, keep the bomb to yourself!, is another and more explicit reference to Chirac's controversial 1995 nuclear test. On his very last line, Romani also quotes Afrika Bambaataa and James Brown's 1984 song "Unity", by shouting "Peace! Love! Unity! And having fun!" [1]

Track listing

All tracks written by Elio, Rocco Tanica, Cesàreo and Faso [a.k.a. Nicola Fasani].

  1. "Christmas with the Yours"
  2. "Christmas with the Yours (Get Far mix)"
  3. "Christmas with the Yours (Say Shadow Puppastic Mix)"

The artwork for the single features the song's title displayed on a large chocolate Easter egg – another intentional malapropism – made by pastry maker Pasticceria Colzani in Cassago Brianza. [2]

Personnel

Notes

  1. The peculiar credit was based on the way the single was presented on Radio Deejay before its actual release, i.e. with no reference at all to Elio e le Storie tese. They were, however, easily "spotted" by listeners and fans because of Elio's very recognizable voice and accent (as described above), and because of the overall style. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Christmas with the yours – 12" mix". Marok.org. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  2. "Il Complesso Misterioso – Christmas With The Yours". Discogs. Retrieved 18 April 2019.