The Santa Clause Army - Commoners Choir

 

Commoners Choir sing a Christmas song of festive hope, seasonal joy, and communal action against pig-ignorant authority. A song based on the loveable story of the 'Santa Claus Army' members of the radical Danish  Solvognen theatre group (“The Sun Chariot,” an allusion to Norse mythology). During the 1970s, the collective performed many large-scale actions intended to make bourgeois Danish society “act itself out as theater.” 

In  the the lead-up to Christmas 1974 they paraded through the city of Copenhagen, singing carols, handing out sweets and hot chocolate, and asking everyone what they wanted for Christmas. After spending a few days cementing the good image of Santa Claus, their generosity became increasingly radical.

Among other things, the Santas climbed a barbed wire fence surrounding the recently shutte red General Motors assembly plant with the purpose of giving jobs back to “their rightful owners.” The week-long performance reached its crescendo inside one of Copenhagen’s biggest department stores, the Magasin, when the Santas started handing out presents to customers directly off the shelves.  The Santas said: “Merry Christmas! Today, no-one has to pay.” They justified their actions, saying they were returning gifts to the workers who had made them. 

The shoppers were thrilled, thanking the Santas and wishing them well. Children stared, amazed. Then the police came. Magasin officials grabbed at the white Santa beards, trying to pull them off the actors’ faces, as police handcuffed the Santas and hauled them out of the store. The children cried. The actors were thrilled because all the roles were performed accordingly – the generous and good Santas, representing hope at Christmas, were being arrested and hauled away by the police against the will of the people.

The performance exposed the radical implications of the myth of Santa Claus’ boundless generosity, demonstrating that true generosity is impossible within the narrow terms of capitalist society.

 Solvognen’s spectacles were powerful, among other reasons because they appropriated images from popular culture and ascribed these images a new meaning: Father Christmas handing out gifts to children became a critique of hypocrisy in consumerist society. The well-known imagery drew the audience quickly into the performances and, further, equipped them with a key to interpret what was going on

A debate raged in Copenhagen newspapers for weeks following the arrest of the Santas. It focused on the treatment of the Santas during the arrest, as well as the freedom of speech and democracy. The political theatre of Solvognen was successful: it got people talking about the issues of the day through humour and spectacle, not to mention Christmas cheer.

 Most of Solvognen’s actions were surprise performances for unsuspecting audiences in unlikely public spaces. Through performances that were playful, bold and easy to understand, Solvognen managed to spread its political ideas beyond the circle of true believers: most Danes knew about Solvognen and its activities. Legend has it that people even started seeing them when they weren’t there: at a public viewing of an American F-16 jet fighter, three real security guards were arrested on suspicion of being members of Solvognen!

The film  above was premiered as part of Mark Thomas' Christmas Show. If you enjoy this video and are able to contribute to helping people eat over the winter period, please follow this link: https://www.trusselltrust.org/ 

 

 The Santa Clause Army  -  Commoners Choir

 

Intro  

SANTA 1: Have you been good this year? 

SANTA 2: Radically good? 

 

 Verse 1 

 

The year that no-one wished for 

Is drawing to a close 

The year when all our ho ho ho’s

Turned into oh oh ohs – 

 

This time of fear and misery 

Of loss and excess death

Of blood and sweat and many tears

It isn’t over yet 

 

Chorus

 

So we dance and we sing 

Bringing cheer to the neighbourhood

And we do, oh we do 

Acts of radical good 

 

And we sing and we dance 

We’re a modern-day Robin Hood 

And we do, oh we do 

Acts of radical good 

 

Verse 2 

 

This year has been a big one 

For ostentatious gifts 

A badly-broken Track & Trace 

And faulty drive-through tests 

 

A privatised economy 

A holly jolly spend

As contracts in their millions 

Are gifted to their friends 

 

Chorus 

 

Verse 3(Child solo)

 

Hark the herald populists 

Despots in disguise 

U-turn after U-turn 

From men who aren’t that wise 

 

They weaken and fragment us 

They shit on all our dreams 

Confusing and dividing us 

Hear the angels scream – 

Aaaaagh!

 

Chorus

 

Interlude 

SANTA 1: Joy to the world? We’ll see what we can do.

SANTA 2: Goodwill to all! Not just for the few.

SANTA 1: We know who's been bad and we know who's been good – we come with a message of peace.

SANTA 2: We're the Santa Claus Army, we always have the last laugh – and we know which chimneys to miss!

SANTA: And to be clear: we do not support fizzy drinks companies, nor do we ever ride on their transportation.

SANTA 2: All together now –

BOTH SANTAS: ho ho ho! 

 

Verse 4 

 

For the givers and the carers 

And those who were born in barns 

Gather round We'll turn that crown 

Upside down 

 

The elite have taken over

It’s time for us to act 

Steal from the rich Give to the poor 

We're taking Christmas back

 

Chorus repeat to fade with clapping, laughing, ho-ho-ho-inghhhhh