MxPx started as three 15-year-old kids calling themselves Magnified Plaid pounding out music inspired by and similar to The Descendents and other Southern California punk rock bands. They didn’t really love their band name, however, which was a tribute to the original guitarist’s penchant for wearing one particularly loud plaid shirt. Consequently, the name was abbreviated to M.P., but in Yuri’s handwriting, periods become “X“‘s and since he made up the show posters for the band, the four-letter moniker stuck.
Andy Husted, the former guitarist, left the band in 1995 to continue college.
Andy was replaced by Tom to solidify the line-up that would take the band into their post-teen years. Maybe Tom’s background as a drummer made up for his relative inexperience playing guitar (he had only played for a year at the time). He and Yuri lock into backbreakingly fast rhythms that rank with vintage Minor Threat for speed and percussive attack. Mike then adds to the mix his signature sing-along melodies that call to mind SoCal punk bands from the early ’80s.
Bremerton had been a town most famous for its naval shipyards until MxPx caught the attention of Tooth & Nail Records when they played a “showcase” for the T&N label in 1993 in Herrera’s parents’ garage. Mike Herrera had practiced so much before the first show, he lost his voice.
MxPx released three albums with Tooth & Nail Records: Pokinatcha in 1994, Teenage Politics in 1995, and Life in General in 1996. After a falling out with Tooth & Nail, MxPx left the label and signed with A&M Records.
In July 2010 drummer Yuri Ruley announced he would be retiring from the band to focus on his family. Ruley played his last show with the band in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 18, 2010. In a recent video message from Mike, he stated that Tom and Yuri have both finished touring full time, but will continue to play one-off shows with the band.
Christmas Night Of The Living Dead
MxPx Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I dreamt that there were zombies
Right outside my window Christmas night
Hungry for some flesh to eat
But I was hungry for a fight
The living dead, they walk the earth
Christmas night of the living dead
My face is green and the snow is red
Whoa, whoa
I'm breaking bones with my bare hands
There's hundreds of them closing in
I'm running out of ammo now
I need to get the axe again
To split some heads in two and part
To see their bodies falling down
Struggle to survive the Christmas night
When zombies came to town
Christmas night of the living dead
My face is green and the snow is red
I creeped them with the shotgun blast
Straight to the head
Bloody it trails staring eyes
Now I'm the living dead
Christmas night of the living dead
My face is green and the snow is red
Christmas night of the living dead
We won't rest until your dead
The song "Christmas Night Of The Living Dead" by MxPx talks about a fictional scenario where zombies arrive on Christmas night and the singer finds himself in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. He dreams about zombies outside his window, hungry for flesh, but he is ready to fight them off. The living dead walking the earth is a metaphor for the struggles people face in their lives, such as financial difficulties, health issues, or relationship problems. The snow being described as red hints at the violent nature of the situation and the bloodshed caused by the zombies.
The singer is running out of ammunition and needs to rely on his bare hands or an axe to fight off the zombies. He is determined to survive and kill as many zombies as possible. He creeps them with a shotgun blast, but in the end, he becomes one of them. This could be interpreted as a message about the futility of violence and how it can consume and change people.
Line by Line Meaning
I dreamt that there were zombies
The singer had a dream that zombies were present
Right outside my window Christmas night
The dream was set on Christmas night with zombies near the singer's window
Hungry for some flesh to eat
The zombies were looking for flesh to eat
But I was hungry for a fight
The singer was looking for a battle against the zombies
The living dead, they walk the earth
Zombies are referred to as the living dead who roam the earth
To bite on you where death do may
Zombies bite humans and cause death
Christmas night of the living dead
Title of the song
My face is green and the snow is red
The singer's face is green from the fight, and snow is red due to bloodshed
I'm breaking bones with my bare hands
Singer is using bare hands to break bones of zombies
There's hundreds of them closing in
Singer is surrounded by many zombies
I'm running out of ammo now
Singer is running out of ammunition
I need to get the axe again
Singer needs to pick up the axe to fight zombies
To split some heads in two and part
Singer wants to split zombies' heads to defeat them
To see their bodies falling down
Singer wants to see defeated zombies falling down
Struggle to survive the Christmas night
The fight against the zombies makes surviving Christmas night difficult
When zombies came to town
Zombies arrived in the town on Christmas night
I creeped them with the shotgun blast
Singer used a shotgun to attack zombies
Straight to the head
Shotgun blast hit zombies' head directly
Bloody it trails staring eyes
Zombies' eyes stare while bleeding after being attacked by shotgun blast
Now I'm the living dead
Singer is now considered as a survivor among the living dead
We won't rest until your dead
Zombies won't stop attacking until humans are dead
Contributed by Kayla I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
J Randall Murphy
This is now an official Christmas classic !
Longshot Luigi
Love this song!
Sean Denizen
Best Christmas song ever?
Joshua Fennelly
Do they still play other songs?
I thought this was just on a loop since November.
Jason Lewis
It’s up there. But I think Standstill - I saw Daddy kissing Santa Claus takes #1
Retriever19 Golden
Yep!!!
Bennie Castellano
YO. There is a Friday the 13th in December this year and I'm currently doing something on Facebook called #AlternativeChristmasMusic where I showcase 25 different non-traditional Christmas songs. THIS IS PERFECT for 13/25!!!!
Michael Upton
I'm from two years in the future and want a link
Megan Bonetti
... E questa è dannatamente carica! :D
HALFTHEMIKE
Mike has weird dreams