Snapshots #427: Songs About Christmas Presents

For our seasonal edition, we asked some of our favourite pop stars (and Bono - well, it is the season of good will) what they wanted for Christmas. Here are their replies... might give you some ideas for last minute Christmas shopping!

25. Found disrupted in one ugly... bloke.

"In one ugly" was an anagram.

Neil wants a Transformer, man.

Neil Young – Transformer Man

24. Sounds like we’re both in the same boat.

You too?

Bono wants a kite. Hope it doesn't get caught in any pylons.

U2 - Kite

23. The heavenly nouveau riche.

I did have to google synonyms for Upstarts.

Angelic Upstarts – Action Man

22. The Royal Airforce, For Instance.

RAF, FI.

Raffi – Old Toy Trains

21. Sassenachs.

Bad English – Rockin’ Horse

20. Robins in an American garden.

The Yardbirds – Puzzles

19. Leave Nelson unplanted.

Admiral Fallow - Subbuteo

18. Fusion combo.

The Mixtures - The Pushbike Song

17. Wings that sting.

Macca-bees.

The Maccabees – Lego

16. Your plans to buy a Prince album are cancelled due to bad weather.

It's going to rain on your copy of Parade.

The Rain Parade - Kaleidoscope

15. Watch out - these fellas scam you!

"Fellas scam" was an anagram. There's an uncredited PP Arnold on this song too...

Small Faces - Tin Soldier

14. You’ll find them in the next church you visit.

In the next church you visit.

XTC – Spinning Top

13. Tutankhamun stuck on a Swiss mountain.

The Mönch is a mountain in Switzerland.

Pharoahe Monch - Simon Says

12. Home to the Basement Tapes.

Bob Dylan & The Band recorded The Basement Tapes in The Big Pink.

The Big Pink - Dominos

11. Favoured by Constable, Monet and O’Keeffe.

They all liked to paint landscapes.

Landscape – Doll’s House

10. Sounds like the connection between a misty streaker and a spooky train robber.

Ray Stevens sang Misty. Ray Parker Jr. sang about a Ghost Buster. The link sounds like Ray.

Link Wray – Slinky!

9. Ensemble brought in by Coldplay and Pilot Olivia to perform their songs.

Coldplay sang Yellow. Olivia and Pilot both sang Magic.

Yellow Magic Orchestra – Computer Game

8. What an Amazonian… or, um, his offspring… might spend their money on.

Jeff (Bezos)... and, er... son... likes a nice starship.

Jefferson Starship – Skateboard

7. Moonlight Maddie meets a Kung Fu Fighter.

In Moonlighting, Cybil Shepherd played Maddie Hates. Carl Douglas was a kung fu fighter.

Hayes Carll - (KMAG) YOYO

6. Scared by the fireplace bogeyman? Find solace within.

Fireplace bogeyman.

Placebo – Plasticine

5. Plug in hedge trimmer.

The Electric Prunes – Wind-Up Toys

4. Phoney rappers are non-returnable protagonists.

The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy – Water Pistol Man

3. Caveman, Haddock, Kirk… they’re an unhappy bunch!

My Sad Captains - Building Blocks
 

2. Theme park owner.

Dollywood!

Dolly Parton – Backwoods Barbie

Presumably you need a Redneck Ken to go with that.

1. Skinks on a plane.

What we all really want for Christmas!

1. The Flying Lizards - Money 

Hopefully that will give you all some ideas for last minute gifts.

Have a good one.

More of this nonsense after Boxing Day.

Snapshots Superman Songs Spillover (#3)

Before we start today, Charity Chic asks, "Will one [of your Superman songs] be Chris Mills' cover of The Flaming Lips?"

It wasn't going to be, CC... until I heard it...

Chris Mills - Waiting For Superman

Lovely.

Superman used to represent "Truth, Justice, and the American Way"... but many are questioning whether that's still relevant, and the press have put that point to the new movie's director, James Gunn, a man who has clashed with Donald Trump in the past.  

“I mean, Superman is the story of America,” Gunn says. “An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.”

Which made me think of this...

Gil Scott Heron & Brian Jackson - Ain't No Such Thing As Superman

Superman has also been called a "strange visitor from another planet", that planet being, of course, Krypton. I couldn't find any songs named after Kal El's home planet, but there were quite a few that mention its most famous (and deadly) mineral...

Squish - Kryptonite

Eminem seems particularly obsessed with Kryptonite, dropping it into a bunch of his lyrics.

Eminem - Rain Man

When Superman arrives on Earth as a baby, he crashlands in a small Kansas town...

Bazooka Joe - Smallville

And it's not until many years later that he arrives in the big City...

The Church - Metropolis

Sufjan Stevens - The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts

Going by James Gunn's logic though, it doesn't matter where Superman comes from, or where he lives now...

Suzi Quatro - Official Suburban Superman

It could be anywhere!

The Chats - Southport Superman

No: where he's from doesn't matter. At his best, Superman is an example to us all. To be better people. I'm not even a big Superman fan - I much prefer Spidey or Bats. But when he's done right, I still appreciate the moral to his story. 

Yellow Magic Orchestra - Be A Superman

Bon Jovi - Superman Tonight

Stumpy - Make Me A Superman