AC/DC and their Christmas song, about Donald Trump

In 1990busy preparing their comeback with the album “The Razors Edge“, AC/DC found themselves reflecting on their humble beginnings as they watched from afar the scandal linked to Donald Trump and to his extramarital affair with Marla Maples, which began in 1989 when he was still married to Ivana. Angus Young and his bandmates came to wonder what it meant to be a spoiled playboy at Christmas. The future president of the United States’ inclination to be one of the most talked about tycoons has always attracted wide attention, even inspiring a Christmas song by the Australian band in the early Nineties.

The song in question is “Mistress for Christmas“, later included as the fifth track on AC/DC’s twelfth studio album. The lyrics of the song took shape quickly, with a deliberately kitsch and over the top tone. The verses included phrases such as: “I like the female body with the minimum of clothes / Money to spend with a capital S / Going out with the woman in red / I want to be in Heaven with three in a bed”. As repeatedly underlined, the group aimed to maintain an ironic and festive tone, not failing to including Christmas bells and holiday references in the song, but without toning down either the guitar riffs or the vocals that fans were expecting.

Angus Young spoke specifically about “Mistress for Christmas” in an interview with “Guitar world” in 1991 and explained: “Every now and then you always indulge in something silly“Angus Young recalled to Guitar World, calling the single “the funniest song on ‘The Razor’s Edge.'” He added: “That song is about Donald Trump. There was huge news about him at the time, therefore we thought we’d have some fun and do something ironic with it“.

Released in September 1990, “The Razor’s Edge” brought AC/DC back to the center of the rock scene with songs like “Thunderstruck” and “Moneytalks.” “Mistress for Christmas”, however, divided the audience and still remains one of the few songs that the band never played live.