How Bob Dylan’s 2009 Holiday Album ‘Christmas in the Heart’ Became a Delightfully Unexpected Seasonal Classic
The musician used the album to give back to the community and said Christmas songs were 'part of my life, just like folk songs'
Bob Dylan has been celebrated for his brilliantly poetic and enigmatic songwriting for six decades, and he’s the rare legacy artist who’s still capable of surprising listeners late in his career. In 2009, he made one of his most delightfully unexpected moves to date when he released Christmas in the Heart, an album of classic Christmas songs.
While there are thousands of Christmas albums by popular artists out there—including many by musical icons of the ’60s and ’70s—Dylan’s drew particular attention for its sincerity and emphasis on tradition while showcasing his instantly recognizable raspy vocals. Read on to learn all about the musician’s Christmas album and what he had to say about it.
The meaningful message behind Bob Dylan’s Christmas album
Christmas in the Heart consists of 15 cover songs, ranging from carols like “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and “O’ Come All Ye Faithful” to 20th-century holiday favorites like “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” The album’s single, a rollicking version of the 1960 song “Must Be Santa” had a fun music video featuring Dylan dressed in a Santa hat and wig while at a wild holiday party.
When Christmas in the Heart was first announced, many of Dylan’s fans were puzzled and expected the album to be some sort of ironic commentary on Christmas, but the opposite turned out to be true. In a rare interview with The Big Issue, a British newspaper supporting the homeless community, Dylan said that Christmas songs were “part of my life, just like folk songs,” and speculated on their enduring appeal, saying the music is so popular “because it’s so worldwide and everybody can relate to it in their own way.”
Dylan also saw his Christmas album as a way to celebrate the holiday’s spirit of giving back to those who are less fortunate. To that end, Dylan dedicated 100% of the proceeds from Christmas in the Heart to charities dedicated to helping people experiencing homelessness and hunger. In his interview, he said he chose to work with Feeding America, Crisis and the World Food Programme because “They get food straight to the people. No military organization, no bureaucracy, no governments to deal with.” Given how often the true meaning of the holiday is overlooked in favor of consumerism, Dylan’s charitable approach to his Christmas album is downright inspiring.
How ‘Christmas in the Heart’ fits in with Bob Dylan’s long career
Bob Dylan was born Jewish, but said that he always enjoyed the Christmas season when he was growing up, telling The Big Issue he had fond memories of “plenty of snow, jingle bells, Christmas carolers going from house to house, sleighs in the streets, town bells ringing, nativity plays” in his hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota.
In the late ’70s, Dylan shocked his fans when he converted to Evangelical Christianity. Between 1979 and 1981, he released three gospel albums and refused to play the music he was known for. Given the musician’s eternally mysterious nature, his current religious identity is not public, though there’s been much speculation about it over the years. When asked about his religion in the interview promoting Christmas in the Heart, he said, “I am a true believer,” but offered no further details.
Stylistically, Christmas in the Heart (which Dylan produced himself, under the pseudonym Jack Frost—a Christmassy name he’s used on many albums) marked a shift to revisiting the classics. He wrote all the songs on his next album, Tempest (2012), but his three albums after that, Shadows in the Night (2015), Fallen Angels (2016) and Triplicate (2017), all consisted entirely of his renditions of standards from the Great American Songbook.
During this period, Dylan also hosted Theme Time Radio Hour, a satellite radio show in which he played an eclectic variety of older songs centered around a theme of his choice. Perhaps the combination of recording holiday standards, hosting his radio show and aging and reflecting on his youth made Dylan want to continue going back to the basics.
Christmas in the Heart is one of the most unique Christmas albums out there, and hearing Bob Dylan’s idiosyncratic yet heartfelt renditions of Christmas classics remains a source of joy and festivity.
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