Tyler Clark presents: Local Mythologies writesTop 25 Christmas Songs of the Last 25 Years: #21 - Nick Lowe, “Christmas at the Airport”

It's the holiday season, which means Christmas music. Lots and lots or Christmas music, most of which was written before the people listening to it were even alive. While "Jingle Bells" and "We Three Kings" are great, and resilient, we're devoting this year to finding the best Christmas song written since 1989. We continue today with #21, and an ode to holiday travel by the Jesus of Cool himself, Nick Lowe.
 

#21: Nick Lowe, "Christmas at the Airport" (2013)

When Nick Lowe released his first Christmas album, Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family, in 2013, it didn't come as much of a surprise. Writing "Cruel To Be Kind" alone earned him the leeway to sing whatever he damned well pleases. What did surprise was the quality of the work; this was no phoned-in cash grab, or (even worse) a too-cool-for-school attempt at social commentary. The songs were good, and fresh; aside from "Silent Night," Lowe stayed away from any of the done-to-death usual suspects from the holiday songbook. That freshness also extended to Lowe's own performance. The man sounds downright lively; just try not to shake your ass during his country-fried take on traditional spiritual "Children, Go Where I Send Thee." I'll wait.

Your ass has shaken. You have failed.

In addition to curating a great set of overlooked Christmas tunes, Lowe also lent his own songwriting skill to the holiday canon. Of the three originals, "Christmas at the Airport" got the most attention at the time, and with good reason. Set during a nightmare layover, Lowe combats the frozen hellscape and creeping ennui with music-hall humor and a little jangly guitar. In addition to adding a little leavity to a situation that would give most people a mean case of the howling fantods, Lowe's song is just catchy, and probably the best song set in an airport since the Divine Comedy's "Come Home, Billy Bird." As critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine said in his AllMusic review, "it speaks to the other side of Christmas, so it feels like it could be a Christmas perennial, a tart bit of counter-programming in a holiday season that can get too sticky and sweet."

After a career loaded with high points, Lowe can finally check "write a holiday standard" off of his to-do list.