Bob Dylan – Twas the Night Before Christmas Review

When we gather around the record player what songs do we seek at Christmastime? Is it the lulls of hammy, charitable insincerity with the Band Aid inevitability? Or is it to Shakin’ Stevens for his routine appearance of festive goodwill, packaged as a social commodity to peddle a hit single? No, it is neither. Let the likes of John Lennon, Mud and Slade gather dust. Turn to a household name who elicits a “really” in response to “Did you know they have a Christmas song, nay, a Christmas album?”. Bob Dylan has no business in the commercialised Christmas shtick business, and he does not dip his toes into those lowly festive waters. Instead, he does what any sane legend of the business would do and adapts traditional efforts of his childhood into swinging polka numbers and poetry recitals. Twas the Night Before Christmas is sure to dampen the mood of any Christmas get-together.  

But such is the point of this misunderstood Christmas classic. Dylan is not presenting a denouncement of modern festive cheer but calls back to what he remembers about the religious holiday. Gone are flashes of synth and in comes a sound, acoustic bounce. What was a classic childhood song is mangled by the croaky Dylan vocals and the desire he has to make Christmas a time to be considerate. You do not need stock sleigh bells and the multitalented efforts of an entire record label to make this happen. No, you need the polka-infused joys of whatever John Candy was doing in Home Alone and the pacing of a punk track. Dylan leans into the traditional and comes out with a set of tender, tremendous festive offerings.  

It is never going to beat the moody hits of the 1980s or the staggering, earworm-like efforts from Wizzard, but it certainly offers an alternate. All you need is a recital from Dylan. His Theme Time Radio Hour is tremendous, and the charitable pairing with Must Be Santa is a remarkable festive treat. Tense, sure, but a genuine and emotive understanding of the Clement Clarke Moore poem. Dylan understands the tempo and tone of these old words like nobody else. It marks a rare treat, the slight raise of his voice in those exciting moments of St. Nicholas bounding down the chimney elicit the same joys of childhood – when it could be believed a man was breaking in with an Xbox 360 in tow.  

Do not listen to Twas the Night Before Christmas with others. It is best interpreted and experienced like a warm passage from some favourite book. With Dylan narrating the classic poem there is much to love. His delivery, the light acoustic flutters underscoring the change from verse to verse, are welcome additions to what is a brilliant reading. Twas the Night Before Christmas does not have an end with Dylan dictating it. Christmas is yearly and so too is the tale. The suddenness at which it concludes is impressive if a bit of a shock. A lovely interpretation from Dylan who gives this poem the right tenacity, the correct layer of mischief for the most wonderful time of the year.