Since 2006, the Killers have annually recorded a Christmas song and donated the proceeds to the AIDS charity (RED). The tracks, like last year’s “Christmas in L.A.,” are usually pretty good and very funny, and 2014’s effort is no different. Joining forces with fellow Vegas child Jimmy Kimmel, this year the band recorded a tune called “Joel the Lump of Coal,” an equal parts sweet and sardonic story about a rock who does not want to be a gift for naughty children.
The video premiered as part of a skit on Monday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, during which the host “crashes” a studio brainstorm session and hands the Killers a bunch of cheesy holiday sweaters, acts as the song’s producer, and works with Brandon Flowers & Co. to record their brand-new holiday ditty. Though Kimmel is at first insistent that the song be about “haters who are gonna hate, hate hate,” the guys eventually arrive at Joel’s story.
In an animated music video, which starts 5:15, Joel dreams of being a child’s dream toy, until a cranky Santa shoots him down. “You stupid lump,” St. Nick sings. “You’re just a thing to teach this brat that Santa ain’t no chump.” Still, because this is Christmas, our heroic clump of carbon finds a happy ending. Watch the video above, and pick up the song on iTunes.
