After earning a veterinary medicine degree at Auburn University, Dr. Elmo was a veterinarian at Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga racetracks in New York. He later moved to San Francisco's Bay Area to open his own animal hospital and while moonlighting playing festivals and clubs in a bluegrass band.
In 1979, he introduced 'Grandma' on a San Francisco radio station. It quickly became a regional hit. Dr. Elmo began playing more holiday gigs around town to support the single. When an activist group, The Gray Panthers, accused him of playing 'ageist music' and showed up to picket one of his shows, the media came out in force, drawing the attention of major labels.
In 1983, MTV began airing the self financed video. A year later Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer album appeared on Epic and a new 'Grandma' single was released, this time with 'Percy, the Puny Poinsettia' as the B-side.
Dr. Elmo released Twisted Tunes in 1991. Numerous holiday albums would follow, with Dr. Elmo releasing his own Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer album in 2002 on SonyBMG. Dr. Elmo added a Halloween hit to his repertoire in 2006 with the title track to his Redneck Dracula album. In 2007 he released Redneck Santa, in 2009 he released Wild Bluegrass with his band Dr. Elmo & Wild Blue. In 2010 Time Life releases Dr. Elmo's Bluegrass Christmas . Most of Dr. Elmo's songs are co-written by Rita Abrams. Pop historians might remember Rita as the Miss Abrams in Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point 4th Grade Class, the act behind the 1972 hit 'Mill Valley.'
Dr. Elmo currently tours with his bluegrass band, Wild Blue and each holiday season he conducts a media and concert tour in conjunction with the "Grandma" song.
Feels Like Christmas
Dr. Elmo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(Yeah)
I know it feels like, feels like
I know it feels like I’m in love
(Yeah)
I know it feels like, feels like
I know it feels like I’m in love
Can’t breathe when you’re with me
Know how it feels like
Intoxicated me
Know how it feels like
I want to let you see
So how it feels like
It’s trying changing me
I know it feels like
BUILD 1
(Yeah)
I know it feels like, feels like
I know it feels like I’m in love
(Yeah)
I know it feels like, feels like
I know it feels like I’m in love
CHORUS 1
(I’m in love)
I know it feels like, feels like
I know it feels like, feels like
I know it feels like, feels like
Feels like, feels like, feels like, feels like
BREAK
Feels like
Feels like
Feels like
Feels like
VERSE 2
Can’t breathe when you’re with me
Know how it feels like
Intoxicated me
Know how it feels like
I want to let you see
So how it feels like
It’s trying changing me
I know it feels like
BUILD 2
(Yeah)
I know it feels like, feels like
I know it feels like I’m in love
(Yeah)
I know it feels like, feels like
I know it feels like I’m in love
CHORUS 2
(I’m in love)
(Yeah)
I know it feels like, feels like
I know it feels like I’m in love
(Yeah)
I know it feels like, feels like
I know it feels like I’m in love
OUTRO
Feels like
Feels like
Feels like
I know it feels like I’m in love
The lyrics to Dr. Elmo's song, Feels Like Christmas, speak to the singer's general sense of malaise and frustration with everyday life. He doesn't feel in the mood to smile or put on a happy face, and he's not interested in putting on a facade of happiness for anyone else's benefit. Instead, he wants to "let his mind slip away" and detach from the world around him. The singer's mood is compounded by the fact that his financial situation is in a state of decline. He feels like he's hanging on by a thread, running out of money, and losing his grip on things.
The sense of helplessness and frustration that the singer is expressing in this song is something that many people can relate to. Sometimes life gets overwhelming, and it's easy to feel like things are spiralling out of control. The singer's desire to detach and escape is a common response to these kinds of feelings, and the fact that he's contemplating drinking is another sign of his desperation.
Overall, the lyrics of Feels Like Christmas are a reflection of the very human desire to feel in control of our lives, even when everything seems to be falling apart. The singer's refusal to put on a happy face and pretend that everything is okay is both cathartic and relatable, and his struggle to find a way to cope with the pressures of daily life is something that many people can understand and sympathize with.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't feel much like smilin' today
I'm not in a good mood.
If nobody minds, I'm gonna let my mind slip away
I'm going to tune out and not engage with anyone today.
'Cause I don't feel much like feelin' your way
I don't want to be forced to conform to someone else's expectations.
All my dollar bills are turning into nickels and dimes
I'm broke and things aren't going well financially.
If things got worse I couldn't get more behind
If my situation gets worse, I don't know how I'll cope.
So it don't matter anyway
It's not worth worrying about.
It's one of them old days, you know the kind
It's a bad day.
It feels like my neck's hung on a clothes line
I feel trapped and helpless.
And someone's hanging me out to dry
I feel abandoned by others.
And I don't feel much like smilin' today
I'm not in a good mood.
Ain't takin' no chances
I'm not willing to take risks.
Of givin' no answers away
I won't reveal my thoughts or feelings to anyone.
I was feeling alright when I went to bed last night
I felt okay before going to sleep.
I woke up at ten and when it began was ready to fight
I woke up with a bad attitude and was ready to argue.
I've been thinking about drinking about a pint and I just might
I'm considering drinking alcohol to cope with my problems.
'Cause I don't feel much like smilin' today
I'm not in a good mood.
If nobody minds, I'm gonna let my mind slip away
I'm going to tune out and not engage with anyone today.
Lyrics © Ultra Tunes, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Kyle Anthony Rife, Erik Belz, Jason Mizelle
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind