The 10 Greatest Sad Christmas Songs, Nos. 7 and 6: Michael Fracasso, Blind Boys of Alabama
7. “1913 Massacre,”Michael Fracasso (just because I’ve never heard Woody Guthrie’s version)
Copper miners who make less than a dollar a day celebrate Christmas in an upstairs dance hall. But boss-thugs are milling around outside — one of him sticks his head in the door and yells “Fire!” then blocks the downstairs door. Seventy-three kids smother to death, crushed in the panic to get out.
6. “I Pray on Christmas,” The Blind Boys of Alabama
A plaintive yet rolling gospel plea that isn’t afraid to acknowledge that most of the promises we’ve heard at this time of the year — for a couple thousand years now — have yet to come true:
I pray on Christmas
… that he’ll take me by the hand
… that the sick will soon be strong
… that the Lord will hear my song
… that all our problems gonna be worked out
… that God will show us what love’s about
Previous Top 10:
10. “Christmas Is for Mugs,” Graham Parker
9. “Daddy’s Drinkin’ Up our Christmas,” Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
