The Lenny Kaye and Cedar Sparks Christmas single

Lenny Kaye / Cedar Sparks: Santa’s Knee / Gathering Song
(La Société Expéditionnaire, LSE 050, US, 2023)

You see them everywhere around Christmas time, especially in shopping malls in the United States. A few songs have been written about people like them. But if you listen to songs like 'Father Christmas' by The Kinks or 'Department Store Santa Claus' by Howard Morris, their lives are not as jolly as the man they impersonate. In the songs by The Kinks and Howard Morris, it is the children who make the department store Santa's life difficult. Lenny Kaye's 'Santa's Knee', released this year on a 7", is more thoughtful. Kaye's Santa does his job with determination, promising the children who sit on his knee that Santa will get them the present they want: "I'll try to make all your wishes come true / That's the spirit of Christmas that I give to you". But this Santa is not judgmental: "If they're good or bad it's not for me to say / I believe all God's creatures should have their own way". Then, when his day's work is done, he returns to "a quiet room where no one is around". No mistletoe to kiss, no presents. On Christmas Eve, he drinks too much, hangs up his stocking, "and hope St. Nick arrives / Bringing magic and wonder to brighten my life".

Lenny Kaye's song hits all the right notes when it comes to expressing the sadness of Christmas loneliness. A loneliness that can affect anyone, even that jolly Santa Claus you meet on the street. Kaye, best known as the guitarist in the Patti Smith Group and as the man behind the original and very influential Nuggets compilation of 1960s American garage rock, sings the song like a storyteller, accompanied by Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth) on a melancholy sounding violin and keyboards, Julian Rogai on double bass and Lou Rogai (Lewis & Clarke) on drums and organ, while Brian Curry of the Cold Weather Company yodels in the background.

Carbone and the Rogais are also featured on the B-side, Cedar Spark's 'Gathering Song'. 'Gathering Song' was originally recorded in 2018 and also features Regina Sayles on vocals, Damian Calgagne on organ, keyboards and glockenspiel, and Jeff Barg on drums. Pennsylvania's Cedar Sparks describe their music as dark folk or gothic folk, but I also hear some country rock in 'Gathering Song', which has the same melancholy feel as the A-side: it sounds sad but hopeful at the same time. Cedar Sparks cite the movie 'It's A Wonderful Life' as an inspiration for their song, and it shows. 'Gathering Song' points out that even if you feel like a failure sometimes, you should remember that "each man's life touches so many lives / It's the love in the hand that he lends". Beautiful words, and singing along with the chorus, alone or with your friends, will make you feel alive and optimistic again. Even if you are a lonely department store Santa Claus.

The eleven and a half minute single was released by Lou Rogai's label La Société Expéditionnaire for Record Store Black Friday in three variants: clear red vinyl, clear red with swirl and the Rough Trade exclusive on green vinyl. A total of 1000 copies were pressed and due to the length of the songs the single is played at 33 rpm.

Listen to both songs on Bandcamp:

And buy the 7” from your local record store.