Talk:Christmas In The Big House

Oh Dear

How do you react when you get an unwanted gift from a loved one? Do you smile? Exclaim? We might wear said present or put it on our mantelpiece, but once they've left? It's in a draw and quickly forgotten. At this time of year at Chez Tuck the Christmas playlist is on a lot: a mixture of Christmas tunes, carols and various hits from the 50s to date including rock, pop, indie, American songbook and of course the Giants. Of the Giants Christmas tunes,Santa's beard, Feast of Lights and Mono Puff's Careless Santa make the cut. This song is bloody awful. Essentially a Flans solo effort, there is little to recommend it. The acoustic riff overstays it's welcome. The lyrics are lazy and terrible. You can get away with all of that if the vocal is good. Flans vocal warbles around trying to sound in tune, but is heavily exposed. It would have been better not releasing it.

For those of you who despair of my critical reviews, I'm going to be posting various Top 20s from the various eras of the Giants career (I think I'll stick it on my personal page on this wiki - I've got nothing there at the moment). I'll start off with the flexi disc through to Flood. Will get it done by Christmas. (Mr Tuck) 17:33, December 15, 2016‎

You know, Mr Tuck, I've always been one of the biggest critics of your reviews (Ha! I'm a critique critic) but I pretty much agree with this assessment. I mean, there is ALWAYS something I find charming about Flans' sense of melody and his lovely voice (which I take issue with your opinion on - I think your constant Flans-is-out-of-tune or straining shtick undercuts the (to me) stunning beauty of his vocals. However, this song is quite forgettable to me. I really hate to say it but, yeah, the lyrics are lazy and terrible. (To me. I'm a lenient fuck. I'm willing to suspend that "opinion" until I hear a story behind the song. --Propman (talk) 21:20, 16 December 2016 (EST)

I feel a bit bad moaning about this one. It's a nice thing to do for the fans. A little gift. But it's just a weak song and if you're going to review these tunes you have to be honest. Let's face it, the Beatles, Christmas Time is Here Again, isn't up to much either so he's in good company! (Mr Tuck) 15:28, December 17, 2016‎

It sounds like it was written and recorded in ten minutes, I listened to it less than twice, I'm not sure it merits extensive critical analysis!! -Deysian 21:40, January 10, 2017

Perfect

I love this song, you guys should go back and revisit. It's a minor effort, not a major one, and should be compared to the likes of The Summer Breeze or something. It's fun and light and perfect as a holiday tune. - Masonstein 12:16, December 21, 2017‎

I'll admit, I didn't give this song much notice when it came out last year. It felt so slight that I honestly didn't revisit it more than a couple times, like Deysian said. Listening to it again, I still think it's not a barnstormer of a song--you're right about it being a minor effort--but as stated above, the melody is nice, and I find the "backup Flansburghs" enjoyable. And don't we hear enough Christmasy songs with sleigh bells and swelling string sections when we're going around this time of year? This is square in the TMBG tradition of "Santa's Beard" and "We Just Go Nuts At Christmastime", throwing a monkey wrench into the holiday cliches of cheer and merriment. I mean, he's in jail, for crying out loud! But never mind that, he's still making friends with the guard and playing tunes with cutlery against the bars of his cell. Ho, ho, ho. --MisterMe (talk) 09:18, 22 December 2017 (EST)

Chiming in here with a vote for Big House. I've never liked Santa's Beard, but I always liked Careless Santa. Hapless criminals make me laugh. This one is special because it's a two-fer. I laugh when he's tapping out "we wish you a merry Christmas" on the iron bars... and I get a bit of a tight throat when he sees Santa flying from one chimney to another, knowing he won't be getting a visit "in the bucket". Don't tell my wife and kids :) --Nehushtan (talk) 19:05, 15 October 2019 (EDT)

Originally I didn't like it, but its gentle melody got caught in my head and now I like it fine. -- 152.76.1.244 04:03, 2 October 2020 (EDT)

Geetar

Who's playing this? Magic 8 ball says all signs point to Dan Miller... finger plucking doesn't seem to be Flansburgh's thing. --Nehushtan (talk) 09:34, 15 October 2019 (EDT)