Song of the Day 12/19: The Kinks, “Father Christmas”

The best punk Christmas song, period. There are other punk-style efforts, but they just sound like punk songs with a few words about the holiday. Ray Davies, as usual, had more in mind, so you get punk energy, a singable melody and sympathy for the poor kids reduced to mugging a department-store Santa in this holiday single from 1977, the eve of Thatcherism in the U.K.

It’s been tackled by virtually every pop-punk band of later generations, most of them straight covers. The Districts, an indie-rock band from Lititz, Pa., tried another approach in 2014, slowing the tempo to emphasize the song’s darker side.