Xmas in February
1989 · Sire 25829-1 · New York City, New York
- Artist
- Lou Reed
- Title
- Xmas in February
- Release
- New York
- Year
- 1989
- Label
- Sire # 25829-1
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- New York City, New York, USA
- Songwriter
- Lou Reed
- Genre
- Rock · Rock
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
Lou Reed's post-Vietnam War song "Xmas in February" (Sire Records # 25829-1) is a grim, depressing tale of a Vietnam Vet ignored by society. The song suggested that in December the Christmas spirit kicks in - carols, trees, lights, and charity. But by February, in the cold and rain, the Christmas spirit disappeared as the homeless person asking for money was ignored. The song started with the protagonist Sam volunteering for the army. He ended up in Vietnam, listening to Jimi Hendrix on the Vietnamese jukeboxes, and lying in the jungle. Out there he "lost his arm". The song also referenced the poisonous herbicide agent orange, used by the US military in Vietnam: "Agent orange spread across the sky". The veteran returned to the US - he had lost his wife and kid and could not find a job. Sam visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C., a "reminder of the war that wasn't won". The narrator suggested that while the dead were remembered, society ignored the living veterans. The song also referred to the use of drugs to reduce the pain: "if he didn't have that opium to smoke, the pain would never ever stop".&
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Christmas Songs
Lou Reed's post-Vietnam War song "Xmas in February" (Sire Records # 25829-1) is a grim, depressing tale of a Vietnam Vet ignored by society. The song suggested that in December the Christmas spirit kicks in - carols, trees, lights, and charity. But by February, in the cold and rain, the Christmas spirit disappeared as the homeless person asking for money was ignored. The song started with the protagonist Sam volunteering for the army. He ended up in Vietnam, listening to Jimi Hendrix on the Vietnamese jukeboxes, and lying in the jungle. Out there he "lost his arm". The song also referenced the poisonous herbicide agent orange, used by the US military in Vietnam: "Agent orange spread across the sky". The veteran returned to the US - he had lost his wife and kid and could not find a job. Sam visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C., a "reminder of the war that wasn't won". The narrator suggested that while the dead were remembered, society ignored the living veterans. The song also referred to the use of drugs to reduce the pain: "if he didn't have that opium to smoke, the pain would never ever stop".
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Born 2 March 1942, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Died 27 October 2013, Southampton, New York, USA