What's your favorite Christmas song you pull out for the holidays? I'm inclined to bring in Wham's "Last Christmas" or Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas" into rotation. I might even play Boyz II Men or The Temptations too. Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby are incredibly safe picks to please any crowd too. Lukas Nelson is fully aware of this fact and gives his acoustic take on a familiar Crosby Christmas for fans.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Recently, Nelson takes to Instagram with a familiar sight: a guitar in hand. He dons a brown hat and leather jacket combo with an acoustic guitar resting on his jeans. Lukas covers a Bing Crosby Christmas classic, "I'll Be Home for Christmas" with his trademark country crooning. Watch below.
" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;margin: 1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:99.375%;width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px);width:calc(100% - 2px)">Lukas Nelson Busts Out The Acoustic Guitar on "I'll Be Home for Christmas"
Generally, as a rule of thumb, I don't do acoustic guitar songs. Sorry Lukas. They usually tend to be extremely flaccid affairs with no personality in its instrumentation. It almost feels like an intentional choice not to take away from the season's greetings. However, all it does is strip away the personality from these songs.
Thankfully, Lukas Nelson's guitar playing doesn't play out so blandly. It's distinctly warm in the way the best country plays out. Similarly, "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is ideal for country interpolations too. Its origins stem from the World War II era when soldiers couldn't go home to see their families for the holidays. The lyrics themselves even come from the point of view of a soldier, tirelessly hoping he can go home. Then, Crosby dreams of all the things he could return to if they let him off his leash back home. It's incredibly stirring stuff and Lukas steps up and delivers the depth it desperately needs. I'm glad the acoustics didn't strip that away from him.
