“Merry Christmas From The Family.” Well, Merry Christmas from most of the family.
Robert Earl Keen’s iconic song “Merry Christmas From The Family” is one of the most beloved songs in his catalog. Each year, families fire up the authentic holiday tune, which details what it’s like to live in a slightly dysfunctional family—let’s be honest, every family is a little dysfunctional. The song is hilarious yet gives the feeling of flipping through an old photo album and reminiscing about characters who have graced family Christmases and those who are still present.
Robert Earl Keen opened up about the track to Texas Monthly, noting that, in his eyes, this song represents the reality of a family holiday.
The Houston native reflects that growing up in Texas made it hard to relate to “traditional” Christmas songs. While other folks were dreaming of a “White Christmas,” Keen knew that was not in his cards as it was often still 80 or 90 degrees in the South Texas city.
“I was thinking, well, it’s almost Christmastime. I never really related to any Christmas songs. I grew up in Houston, Texas, where it never snowed and could be ninety degrees and ninety-five percent humidity on Christmas Day. I thought, I’ll just write my own… I like to mess around with oddball ideas. It’s fun to write oddball things and just entertain yourself every once in a while.”
After completing the song, however, Keen thought it would never see the light of day. Who would want to hear a song about Mom and Dad getting drunk, bean dip, margaritas, and his brother’s kids from multiple wives? But his producer, Garry Velletri, felt this was one of his best tunes. After telling Keen, he had to release it, and sure enough, it soon became more than just a hit among Velletri, but a hit among all his fans. Keen now refers to the song as a “happy accident,” but it does not bring happy thoughts for some characters listed in the lyrics.
Later in the interview, Keen tells Texas Monthly that he changed the names of family members on the track, but all the actions were genuine. This made some family members love it, and they got a shout-out during the comical tune, but it left others not so thrilled.
“The names have been changed to protect the guilty, but everybody in that song knew who they were. Some of them got a big kick out of it and felt honored that I put them in a song and some of them got really mad and didn’t talk to me for a year.”
Keen’s mother was one family member who was less than thrilled with their cameo in “Merry Christmas From The Family.”
“My mom loved my songs. ‘Mariano’ was her favorite that I ever wrote. She called my Uncle Joe, who’s also made a cameo appearance in one of my songs, and said, ‘Uncle Joe, Robert has written the most horrible song that you’ve ever heard.’ Well, I think that’s because I started out (the song) with, ‘Mom got drunk, and dad got drunk…’ ’
Hopefully, that burn has healed, given the song was released two decades ago. But hey, you’ve got to respect Keen for laying down a Christmas tune as authentic as this one. It’s hard to find a picture-perfect family gathering around drinking hot cocoa as they gaze upon a fire these days.
We all have crazy cousins, family members who don’t have life figured out, and aunts and uncles who always like to stir the pot. “Merry Christmas From The Family” is one of Keen’s most loved songs because it embodies what Christmas really is for many of us.
And hey, maybe you’re not running down to the Quick Pak store for a can of bean dip, Diet Rites, tampons, and smokes, but we can all relate to the feeling of those words or needing to run to the local gas station to get away from everyone.
Turn this one up this week. From the Whiskey Riff family, we hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.
While you’re here, check out our Country Christmas Songs That Don’t Suck Playlist because Christmas music doesn’t have to suck.
