Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Encyclopedia
"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" is a novelty
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...

 Christmas song, which led to the creation of an animated movie with the same title.

Written by Randy Brooks
Randy Brooks
Randolph Frederick "Randy" Brooks is an American television and film actor known for his role as a L.A.P.D. Detective Holdaway in the 1992 hit cult film Reservoir Dogs...

, the song was originally performed by the husband and wife duo of Elmo
Elmo Shropshire
Elmo Shropshire, D.V.M. , better known as Dr. Elmo, is a singer of comedy songs, most notably "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer." He originally recorded the song in 1979 with his then-wife Patsy. He re-recorded it solo in 1992 for the album Dr. Elmo's Twisted Christmas and again in 2000 for the...

 and Patsy Trigg Shropshire in 1979. In the lyrics, the grandmother of the family gets drunk from drinking too much eggnog
Eggnog
Eggnog, or egg nog, is a sweetened dairy-based beverage traditionally made with milk and/or cream, sugar, beaten eggs , and liquor...

, and, due to having forgotten to take her medication and despite warnings from the family, staggers outside into a snowstorm (either to retrieve it or due to the effects of senile dementia, which the medication was supposed to treat; the song is ambiguous about which). In the course of her walk, she is run over by Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...

 and his reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...

 and killed (however, the film has her alive at the end). The second and third verses describe the Christmas party the next day: "all the family's dressed in black" while the widower acts as if nothing's happened, drinks beer, watches football
National Football League Christmas games
The National Football League occasionally schedules matchups on Christmas, December 25 or Christmas Eve, December 24.Unlike their November holiday counterparts, the Thanksgiving Classic games, Christmas Day and Christmas Eve games in the National Football League are not a regular annual part of the...

 and plays cards with "cousin Mel." The song closes with a warning that Santa, "a man who drives a sleigh and plays with elves" is unfit to carry a driver's license, and that the listener should beware.

Releases

According to Brooks, he played the song while sitting in with Elmo and Patsy at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...

 in December 1978, and after the show they had him make a cassette of the song for them to learn. A year later, they were selling 45s of the song from the stage, with Elmo himself appearing in drag on the album cover as the titular Grandma.

The song was originally self-released in the San Francisco area by the Shropshires in 1979 on their own record label ("Elmo 'n' Patsy"), with the B-side called "Christmas". By the early 1980s, the song was becoming a seasonal hit, first on country stations
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 and then on Top 40 stations
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...

. In 1982, the "Elmo 'n' Patsy" record label changed its name to "Oink" when the song was re-recorded. Oink Records, still based in Windsor, California
Windsor, California
Windsor is an incorporated town in Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 26,801 as of the 2010 census.-Geography:Windsor is located on U.S. Route 101 in the Russian River valley, about southeast of Healdsburg, California....

, continued distribution of the 45 rpm record in the western U.S., with "Nationwide Sound Distributors" of Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 pressing and distributing the song on its Soundwaves Records in the eastern U.S., peaking at #92 on the country singles charts. In 1984, with the song now a big hit nationally, CBS Records
CBS Records
CBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...

 was interested and signed Elmo and Patsy to Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

. A new recording was made with a new B-side ("Percy, the Puny Poinsettia
Poinsettia
Euphorbia pulcherrima, commonly known as Zack Wood or noche buena, is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Mexico and Central America. The name "poinsettia" is after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, who introduced the plant into the US in 1825...

"). By the end of 1984, it was reported that sales of "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" were, by record label: Oink: 50,000 45s sold; Soundwaves: 175,000 45s sold; Epic: 150,000 45s sold and 90,000 LPs sold. The Epic Records version charted at #64 on the country charts in 1998 and #48 in 1999.

Following the Shropshires' divorce, Elmo re-recorded it solo in 1992 and again in 2000.

The song was covered by The Irish Rovers
The Irish Rovers
The Irish Rovers is a Canadian Irish folk group created in 1963 and named after the traditional song "The Irish Rover". The group is best known for their international television series, and renditions of traditional Irish drinking songs, as well as early hits, Shel Silverstein's "The Unicorn",...

 who reached the Canadian charts with it in 1982. It has also been covered by Family Force 5
Family Force 5
Family Force 5 is a Christian crunk rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. They consist of Solomon "Soul Glow Activatur" Olds, Jacob "Crouton" Olds, Joshua "Fatty" Olds, Nathan "Nadaddy" Currin, and Derek "Chap Stique" Mount...

 (in the song, the word "beer" was edited out and replaced with root beer), and in 1996 by Poe
Ann Danielewski
Anne "Annie" Decatur Danielewski , professionally known as Poe, is an American singer and songwriter. She first hit the modern rock charts in the mid-1990s. Poe is the daughter of Polish film director Tad Danielewski and his second wife, Priscilla Machold. She is the sister of author Mark Z....

.

It was also covered by Less Than Jake
Less Than Jake
Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida. Originally formed in 1992 as a power pop trio, the band evolved into a hybrid of ska punk. Less Than Jake have also been cited as showing influences from a wide variety of genres including post-grunge, heavy metal, alternative...

 on their album Goodbye Blue and White.

A sequel, "Grandpa's Gonna Sue the Pants Off of Santa," was released by Elmo Shropshire
Elmo Shropshire
Elmo Shropshire, D.V.M. , better known as Dr. Elmo, is a singer of comedy songs, most notably "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer." He originally recorded the song in 1979 with his then-wife Patsy. He re-recorded it solo in 1992 for the album Dr. Elmo's Twisted Christmas and again in 2000 for the...

 on his album, Dr. Elmo's Twisted Christmas (1992). Grandpa gets lawyers to fight Santa in court. A rock cover version is on the album We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year
We Wish you a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year
We Wish You A Metal Xmas And A Headbanging New Year is a compilation album of Christmas songs played by an all-star collection of hard rock and metal artists...

.

A parody "Grandpa Got Run Over By a Beer Truck" was released by Da Yoopers
Da Yoopers
Da Yoopers is a traveling comedy show and musical group from Ishpeming, Mich. They are known primarily for their humorous songs and skits, most of which center around life in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan...

 in 1993. Radio personality Bob Rivers
Bob Rivers
Bob Rivers is a well-known American rock and roll radio on air personality in the Pacific Northwest as well as a prolific producer of parody songs, most famous for his Christmas song parodies....

 recorded a his own parody titled "Osama Got Run Over by a Reindeer".

Cledus T. Judd
Cledus T. Judd
Barry Poole is an American country music artist who records under the name Cledus T. Judd. Known primarily for his parodies of popular country music songs, he has been called the "Weird Al" Yankovic of country music, and his albums are usually an equal mix of original comedy songs and parodies...

 in 1996 released a parody called "Grandpa Got Ran Over By a John Deer" as a sequel to "Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer" as well did a cover of the song in 2002.

SonyBMG released Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" is a novelty Christmas song, which led to the creation of an animated movie with the same title.Written by Randy Brooks, the song was originally performed by the husband and wife duo of Elmo and Patsy Trigg Shropshire in 1979...

by Dr. Elmo in 2002.

Madacy Records released a Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" is a novelty Christmas song, which led to the creation of an animated movie with the same title.Written by Randy Brooks, the song was originally performed by the husband and wife duo of Elmo and Patsy Trigg Shropshire in 1979...

gift tin (CD/DVD/Xmas stocking) by Dr. Elmo in 2007.

Time Life Records released "Dr. Elmo's Bluegrass Christmas" in 2010, which featured a bluegrass instrumental of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer."

Popularity

Edison Media Research and Pinnacle Media Worldwide independently survey radio listeners on which Christmas songs they like and dislike. In both surveys, results of which were reported in 2007, the only song that reached the top of both "most-disliked lists" was "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer." Actually, the song was either loved or hated. Its "loved" ratings in the Edison and Pinnacle polls were relatively high—47 and 32 percent, respectively—but so were the "hate" or "dislike" ratings—17 and 22 percent.

A major Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

, WASH (97.1 FM), dropped the song from its playlist
Playlist
In its most general form, a playlist is simply a list of songs. They can be played in sequential or shuffled order. The term has several specialized meanings in the realms of radio broadcasting and personal computers.-In radio:...

. "It was too polarizing," says Bill Hess, program director
Program director
In service industries, such as education, a program director or programme director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services...

. "It wasn't strong, except with a few people, and it had a lot of negatives."

Shropshire claims it is "a beloved holiday favorite." The video of the song was "a holiday staple on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 for many seasons." The recording has been included on the soundtracks for "Jarhead
Jarhead
Jarhead is a nickname for United States Marines personnel, due to their regulation high and tight haircutJarhead may also refer to:* Jarhead , US Marine Anthony Swofford's 2003 Gulf War memoir...

" and "Deck the Halls". It has been "incorporated into talking toys and a musical greeting card." "My royalties are four or five times what they were" 20 years ago, claims Elmo, who performs the song with his bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

 group year-round. "A lot of younger people say it's not really Christmas until they hear it."

Television

The 2000 animated television program Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (TV special)
Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer is an animated direct-to-video TV special, directed by Phil Roman, produced by SFM Entertainment, and released in 2000. It airs every year on Cartoon Network and recently on The CW network during the Christmas season...

portrays the events depicted in the song — though being made for children, the cartoon is toned down of adult content, so that Grandma does not die, and Santa is actually innocent of the crime, which was instead masterminded by a scheming relative (Cousin Mel, who is mentioned briefly in the song but made into a gold-digging villainness in the special). Elmo Shropshire reads for the voice of Grandpa (as well as being the narrator of the special).

External links


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