From the Dogs to the Grateful Dead: songs for Boxing Day

“The first Christmas I returned to Rome early/I wasn’t prepared for your aunts from Florence/I found myself at lunch that I had already eaten/And the cousins had the old-fashioned names of their grandparents”, sings Nicolò Contessa in “Il Pranzo di Santo Stefano”. Boxing Day or Boxing Day, as it is called in England. More simply the party after the Christmas party.
A relatively recent tradition, which varies from country to country, like the Christmas celebrations themselves. In Catholic countries it is the holiday dedicated to the first martyr of the Church, in Anglo-Saxon countries it is Boxing Day, the day in which the less fortunate receive “Christmas boxes” from the wealthier: English tradition also provides that it is a day dedicated to watching English championship football matches. It is a day also celebrated by songs: there are not as many as for Christmas, but they are often beautiful and interesting, like that of I Cani

The best one was recorded by Elvis Costello and the Chieftains in a wonderful Christmas album from 24 years ago by the Irish band, “The Bells of Dublin”: it’s called “St. Stephen’s Day Murder”.

I knew of two sisters whose name it was Christmas
And one was named Dawn of course, the other one was named Eve
I wonder if they grew up hating the season
The good will that lasts until the Feast of Saint Stephen

For that is the time to eat, drink, and be merry
Till the beer is all spilled and the whiskey has flowed
And the whole family tree you neglected to bury
They are feeding their faces until they explode

And then songs about Boxing Day, the saint, not the day: like “St. Stephen”, one of the most well-known and loved songs by the Grateful Dead, or like that of the Felice Brothers. More songs were written and recorded about Boxing Day – we chose a few: Elvis Costello (him again), Blink-182 and Sondre Lerche.
Happy listening (and happy digestion)!