Red, White and Blue Christmas

Annotation — Christmas Songs

Dottie Swan, a country music singer born in Hundred, West Virginia, on 27 August 1916. She died on 1 December 1972. In the 1950s and 1960s she appeared on the Grand Ole Opry broadcast on WSM, as well as the WWVA Original Jamboree (a country music radio broadcast from Wheeling, West Virginia).123 She also worked with Ernest Tubb.4 The song "Red, White & Blue Christmas" (Southern Artists Records # 45-2028) is narrated from the perspective of a soldier's wife, who had a baby boy. She missed her husband over Christmas. She used the colours of the US flag within the Christmas setting to express her feelings. It included some negative views about war in general: "standing alone, this is what war has done...red is the blood shed in vain", while the use of the flag leaned towards the patriotic side. Composed by Dottie Swan. Distributed by Sounds of Nashville Inc. Publisher: Buckhorn Publishing Company. Performing Rights: BMI.Sources1Hillbilly-Music.com: Dottie Swan↩2rcs-discography.com (archived copy)↩3Billboard, 8 February 1960↩4Ernest Tubb: The Texas Troubadour (Ronnie Pugh, 1998)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Red, white and Blue is the Christmas this year / The snow flakes are falling, my Christmas will be white, my heart's hurting on this Christmas night / My arms are holding my precious infant son / But I'm standing alone, this is what war has done / Blue are the lights on my Christmas tree / Blue is the heart that beats inside of me / Red is the wine I'll be drinking alone oh how I Wished he were home / Red is the blood...shed in vain / White is the snow outside my window... / Red, white and blue is my Christmas this year

Notes

Southern Artists Records 45-2028 (SoN 26471), "Red, White & Blue Christmas" (Dottie Swan), 2:10, Buckhorn Pub. Co., BMI; "Dist. by Sound of Nashville, Inc., 160 2nd Ave. S., Nashville, Tennessee"; yellow label. The song also appears on a red Daring Records label, Record No. 19672, as "Red, White and Blue Christmas" (Dottie Swan), 2:10, Buckhorn, BMI, "Dist. Nationally by P.R.P., Inc. – 70 Visco Ct., Nashville, Tenn. 37210". [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

Born 27 August 1916, Hundred, West Virginia, USA. Died 1 December 1972

Themes

Christmas · Patriotic · Home Front Perspective

In collections

Christmas Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]