Today’s featured Christmas song sitting at No. 3 in my Christmas Countdown is Must Be Santa by Bob Dylan. It is the second song from Bob Dylan’s unexpected 2009 release Christmas in the Heart which ventures into the Christian festive realm of Winter Wonderlands, Noels, Santa Claus, and Silver Bells. The highlight from the album is Must Be Santa – a polka-meets-klezmer romp which happens to be my children’s favourite Christmas tune. This song gets plentiful joyful spins in our household every Christmas season.
Must Be Santa was written by Hal Moore and Bill Fredericks and first released in November 1960 by Mitch Miller. This song was based on a German drinking game, with the lyrics taking on a ‘call and answer’ structure… “Who’s got a beard/That’s long and white?/Santa’s got a beard/That’s long and white.”
Bob Dylan’s 2009 version from his Christmas in the Heart album is based on an arrangement by Brave Combo, whose version he had played on Theme Time Radio Hour.
11 years after its release, Must Be Santa placed 24th in a Rolling Stone article about the “25 Best Bob Dylan Songs of the 21st Century” where critic Amanda Martoccio called the song “zany” and the “centerpiece” of Christmas in the Heart.
[Verse 1]
Who’s got a beard that’s long and white?
Santa’s got a beard that’s long and white
Who comes around on a special night?
Santa comes around on a special night
[Chorus 1]
Special night, beard that’s white
Must be Santa, must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Claus
[Verse 2]
Who wears boots and a suit of red?
Santa wears boots and a suit of red
Who wears a long cap on his head?
Santa wears a long cap on his head
[Chorus 2]
Cap on head, suit that’s red
Special night, beard that’s white
Must be Santa, must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Claus
[Verse 3]
Who’s got a big red cherry nose?
Santa’s got a big red cherry nose
Who laughs this way: “Ho, ho, ho”?
Santa laughs this way: “Ho, ho, ho”
The following was extracted from my friend Max’s post on Must Be Santa at his PowerPop blog.
All of the profits from this album went towards Feeding America Crisis, and the World Food Program. In 2009, Dylan told Bill Flanagan that he had intended to make a Christmas record for some time: “Yeah, every so often it has crossed my mind. The idea was first brought to me by Walter Yetnikoff, back when he was President of Columbia Records.”
If you want to know what Dylan considers to be a great Christmas meal… it would consist of “Mashed potatoes and gravy, roast turkey and collard greens, turnip greens, biscuit dressing, cornbread and cranberry sauce.”
Bob Dylan: “This version comes from a band called Brave Combo. Somebody sent their record to us for our radio show [Theme Time Radio Hour]. They’re a regional band out of Texas that takes regular songs and changes the way you think about them. You oughta hear their version of ‘Hey Jude.’”
References:
1. Must Be Santa (song) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Thank you Matt! I’m going to post it again tonight…because I want to get it in. I appreciate it a lot.
It doesn’t get old to our ears. Fantastic romp song.
I’ve played this for my Advent Countdown. Bob Dylan going wild – what’s not to like!
That’s cool Clive! It’s been one of our a Christmas favourites since it was released. We are huge Dylan fans too. Thanks for commenting.