Christmas 2024 Theme Mix Tape (Side B)
The Tinsel and Tears: Christmas 2024 Theme Mix Tape (Side B) can be found on Spotify. Listen in-blog below for a more rich experience, or on Spotify for uninterrupted music. Please note below each song is a link to song lyrics for accessibility. Check out more details on how to best enjoy mix tapes.
Good day and welcome to KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
I’m your host, DJ Ponyboy, holding space for us to grieve together this holiday season.
Thank you for joining me for Side B of my Christmas 2024 Mix Tape, Tinsel and Tears: Grieving Through the Holiday.
Everyone is welcome here today (as long as you are respectful), no matter what (if anything) you are grieving.
Whether the loss of your religion, the physical death of a loved one or loved ones, the ending of a romantic relationship, the estrangement of a family member or a whole group of family members, the division in the world today, the sorry state of our country, a physical injury or disability you didn’t previously have to deal with, or any other change in your life – your feelings are valid and I am holding space for you here.
Today we will be sad. We will be silly. We will laugh and cry and share some time and space with each other. Finally, we will end with a little ray of hope.
No matter the reason why the holiday doesn’t sparkle like it used to, I give you permission to feel angry, sad, hurt, betrayed, lonely, or any other emotion – even happy, excited, or festive – grief is not linear and there is no shame or guilt in how your journey progresses. This is a safe place for you to just be.
“Outside the carolers start to sing. I can’t describe the joy they bring, because joy is something they don’t bring me”.
Kicking us off is Blink-182 with “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas” on KMTJ-DB, Denver, Colorado.
I Won’t Be Home For Christmas Lyrics
“I Won’t Be Home for Christmas”. Blink-182.
I discovered that track the Christmas of 2020, when all of my usual holiday music refused to provide dopamine.
My next song is for the dogs. Pets can be so helpful in navigating grief. Their unconditional love can touch you like nothing or no-one else can. They can also help navigate stressful holiday gatherings with lots of people. Finding an animal to share love with always makes my day better.
“Things aren’t looking very good, it’s true, so I’ll just lay here and chew”.
The Eels and “Christmas is Going to the Dogs”.
Christmas is Going to the Dogs Lyrics
Up next, a song from one of my very favourite recent Christmas efforts – Johnny Reid’s 2020 EP, My Kind of Christmas – a raw, fresh, and honest new collection of Christmas music.
“All I want for Christmas is for my heart to unbreak”.
Here is Johnny Reid with “All I Want for Christmas” on KMTJ-DB, Denver.
All I Want for Christmas Lyrics
“All I Want For Christmas” by Johnny Reid. I discovered that EP while losing the last of my religion and trying to find Christmas tunes that didn’t remind me of sadness and pain. Most of the songs are originals, and the few covers are special to me.
“You don’t have to be alone to be lonesome – it’s so easy to forget – the sadness comes crashing like a brick through the window, and it’s Christmas, so no one can fix it”.
Perhaps you are lonely this Christmas, for whatever reason, and you feel like no one can fix it. I feel you. I see you. I can’t fix it. But I can hold space for you and empathize. We can cry together and laugh together. You and I can both grieve those who are not here with us, but I am grateful that you are here with me.
Phoebe Bridgers is a newer artist, whose 2022 single “So Much Wine” was released with several other tracks, including our next, “Christmas Song”.
I’m DJ Ponyboy reminding you that grief progresses differently for everyone. I give you permission to grieve the way that is right for you. I also caution you to not be surprised if it comes out in strange, confusing, and upsetting ways.
Our next song can resonate with a lot of folks: those grieving family estrangement, the state of the world today, the loss of relationships, or fearing the ending of a long-term relationship.
Mt. Joy and “Every Holiday” on KMTJ-DB, Denver, Colorado.
I’m DJ Ponyboy and I have lost a discouraging number of incredible people to death over the last several decades. From my close friend and childhood camp counselor Alan, to my dear friend and ski buddy Steve, my talented friend-with-benefits Larry, one of the best karaoke hosts in the world Dannon – and literally dozens more.
Losing someone we care about to death is one of the toughest things we experience in life and it affects us until we pass away ourselves.
If you are grieving the death of a loved one, consider visiting my friend Andrea’s TikTok channel, @MyTwiceWidowedLife, where she shares connection, hope, community, and advice from her past and ongoing journey through grief.
Our next track talks about keeping a loved one alive within us by honouring their memory.
Visit the link in the blog to help honour the memory of Andrea’s late husband, Brian.
“Gone don’t always mean that you disappear, because inside all of us you’re still here”.
Lukas Graham with “Here (For Christmas)”
In John Green’s Anthropocene Reviewed podcast episode on “Auld Lang Syne” (I encourage you to enjoy the episode in full), he speaks of his late friend Amy Krouse Rosenthal.
“I’ll never speak again to many of the people who loved me into this moment, just as you will never speak to many of the people who loved you into your now. And so we raise a glass to them – and hope that perhaps somewhere, they are raising a glass to us”.
“In her public appearances, Amy … would ask an audience to sing [along to “Auld Lang Syne”] with her – we’re here because we’re here because we’re here because we’re here. … It became a statement that we are here – meaning that we are together, and not alone”.
While you may feel like everything is hopeless and overwhelming, and you may ask why you are still here when someone you love dearly is not, you are not alone – we share this grief together.
I ask you to join me in singing: “We’re here because we’re here because we’re here because we’re here. We’re here because we’re here because we’re here because we’re here”.
I’m DJ Ponyboy and I am so, so grateful you are here with me.
Here is Beegie Adair and their beautiful jazz rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” on KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
While “Auld Lang Syne” has lyrics, this version is instrumental.
Maybe your family members or loved ones are still physically on this earth, but you are estranged for whatever reason. Perhaps you have had to go no-contact with your family for safety, self-preservation, or other reasons. I understand; I haven’t spoken to my father in a very long time myself.
Our next song represents a longing for something you know likely won’t happen.
The Decemberists and “Please Daddy (Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas)”.
Please Daddy (Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas) Lyrics
If you are struggling with substance abuse that is affecting your loved ones, please seek help.
If you have taken steps to leave a relationship that was detrimental to you, I am so proud of you. It is ok to grieve that relationship, even as you are grateful it is over; two things can be true.
One common grief emotion we haven’t explored a whole lot yet is anger.
While we at Mix Tape Journey do not condone violence, the feelings in our next song are relatable.
“One awkward silence, and two hopes you cry yourself to sleep, staying up, waiting by the phone, and all I want this year is for you to dedicate your last breath to me before you bury yourself alive”.
“Yule Shoot Your Eye Out” by Fall Out Boy on KMTJ-DB, Denver.
Yule Shoot Your Eye Out Lyrics
I’m DJ Ponyboy and I am so, so grateful you are here with me today. As we wrap up this mix tape, I bring you a brand new song that reminds us to believe in Christmas.
I don’t mean in a religious sense, or a nostalgia sense, or a commercial sense, or in any other artificial sense.
I believe in, “little feet coming down the stairs”, “mismatched coffee cups, … hello and goodbye hugs”, “a baby’s laughter, twinkling lights”, and what it all represents – love.
If you look around, you will find love is actually all around you, in big, small, and sometimes invisible ways.
Off 2024’s The Christmas Record, Little Big Town reminds us to, “look up, it’s everywhere – hope is a star that’s always there”.
I give you permission to enjoy whatever glimpses of joy, happiness, and hope you experience this holiday season, without shame, judgement, or reservation – you deserve them.
Little Big Town and “Believe in Christmas”.
Thank you for joining me today. I hope we were able to connect in some small, meaningful way.
Happy holidays and merry Christmas. You will survive. Tomorrow is a brighter day.
This has been my Tinsel and Tears: Grieving Through the Holiday: 2024 Christmas Theme Mix Tape (Side B).
You have been listening to KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
I’m your host, DJ Ponyboy, reminding you to stay gold.