Merry Christmas From The Family
Robert Earl Keen Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

Mom got drunk and dad got drunk
At our Christmas party
We were drinking champagne punch
And homemade eggnog
Little sister brought her new boyfriend
He was a Mexican
We didn't know what to think of him 'til he sang
Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad

Brother Ken brought his kids with him
The three from his first wife Lynn
And the two identical twins
From his second wife, Mary Nell
Of course he brought his new wife Kay
Who talks all about AA
Chain smoking while the stereo plays
"Noel, Noel
The first Noel"

Carve the turkey
Turn the ball game on
Mix margaritas when the eggnog's gone
Send somebody to the Quickpak store
We need some ice and an extension cord
A can of bean dip and some diet rites
A box of tampons and some Marlboro Lights
Hallelujah everybody say "cheese"
Merry Christmas from the family

Fred and Rita drove from Harlingen
I can't remember how I'm kin to them
But when they tried to plug their motor home in
They blew our Christmas lights
Cousin David knew just what went wrong
So we all waited out on our front lawn
He threw the breaker and the lights came on
And we sang "Silent Night," "oh, silent night"

Carve the turkey, turn the ball game on
Make Bloody Marys
'Cause we all want one
Send somebody to the stop 'n go
We need some celery and a can of fake snow
A bag of lemons and some diet sprites
A box of tampons, some Salem Lights
Hallelujah, everybody say "cheese"
Merry Christmas from the family





Feliz Navidad

Overall Meaning

Robert Earl Keen's "Merry Christmas From The Family" is a humorous country Christmas song which captures the chaotic yet loving nature of family gatherings during the holidays. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a typical American family's Christmas celebration, where everyone comes together to eat, drink, and be merry, despite their differences and quirks.


The song starts with Mom and Dad getting drunk at the Christmas party while the family is drinking champagne punch and homemade eggnog. Little sister brings her new Mexican boyfriend, and they all get surprised when he sings "Feliz Navidad," which becomes one of the highlights of the night. Brother Ken brings his kids from two different wives and his AA-talking wife Kay, who chain smokes while the stereo plays "The First Noel."


As the night progresses, they carve the turkey, turn on the ball game, and mix margaritas when the eggnog runs out. They send someone to the store to buy ice, an extension cord, a can of bean dip, diet Coke, tampons, and Marlboro Lights. Later, when Fred and Rita arrive from Harlingen to plug in their motor home, they blow the Christmas lights, but Cousin David saves the day by fixing the breaker just in time for everyone to sing "Silent Night."


In summary, "Merry Christmas From The Family" portrays a family at Christmas as a loving but haphazard group who come together regardless of the chaos to celebrate the holiday in their unique way.


Line by Line Meaning

Mom got drunk and dad got drunk
Mom and dad drank alcohol and got drunk at the Christmas party


We were drinking champagne punch and homemade eggnog
We were consuming alcohol that included champagne punch and homemade eggnog


Little sister brought her new boyfriend, he was a Mexican
My sister brought her new boyfriend who was Mexican, and it surprised us


We didn't know what to think of him 'til he sang, Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad
We were initially skeptical of him, but he won us over by singing Feliz Navidad


Brother Ken brought his kids with him, the three from his first wife Lynn, and the two identical twins from his second wife, Mary Nell
My brother Ken brought his five kids, three from his first wife Lynn, and two identical twins from his second wife Mary Nell


Of course he brought his new wife Kay who talks all about AA, chain smoking while the stereo plays, 'Noel, Noel, the first Noel'
Ken's new wife Kay is an enthusiastic talker of AA while she chain smokes and the Christmas music plays


Carve the turkey, turn the ball game on
We started carving the turkey and turned on the football game


Mix margaritas when the eggnog's gone
When the eggnog ran out, we decided to switch to margaritas


Send somebody to the Quickpak store, we need some ice and an extension cord, a can of bean dip and some diet rites, a box of tampons and some Marlboro Lights, Hallelujah, everybody say 'cheese'
We realize we're short on supplies, and send someone to Quickpak for an extension cord, ice, bean dip, tampons, and cigarettes. We then took a photo singing 'cheese'


Merry Christmas from the family
Wishing Merry Christmas from our family


Fred and Rita drove from Harlingen, I can't remember how I'm kin to them
Fred and Rita came over from Harlingen, but I couldn't remember our exact relationship


But when they tried to plug their motor home in, they blew our Christmas lights, Cousin David knew just what went wrong
However, their motor home blew our Christmas lights when they tried to plug it in, but my cousin David knew how to fix it


So we all waited out on our front lawn, he threw the breaker and the lights came on
We all waited on the lawn while David fixed the lights so the night could continue


And we sang 'Silent Night', 'oh, silent night'
We sang Silent Night together after the lights were back on


Make Bloody Marys, 'cause we all want one
We felt like having Bloody Marys, so we made some


Send somebody to the stop 'n go, we need some celery and a can of fake snow, a bag of lemons and some diet sprites, a box of tampons, some Salem Lights
We run out of supplies again and send someone to the stop 'n go for celery, fake snow, lemons, and diet soda. Also, tampons and cigarettes.


Hallelujah, everybody say 'cheese'
Taking another group photo together, we sang 'hallelujah' and said 'cheese'


Merry Christmas from the family
Wishing Merry Christmas from our family


Feliz Navidad
Wishing Merry Christmas in Spanish




Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave
Written by: Robert Keen

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Song not found
Comments from YouTube:

Javi Candido

Am the Mexican in my white adoptive family, this song always make me crack a smile and little eye tear at the same time, cheers for the good memories and the people we love but left early to be with our Heavenly Father and his beloved son Jesus Christ! Feliz Navidad y’all!

Tim Wynne

Excellent comment and so spot on. Thanks.

Brandy Harris

Feliz Navidad 🎄

Laura Elizabeth Eubanks

This is such a Beautiful post. I am the sister that brought the Mexican...we didn't speak each other's language,but our communication we understood. Everyone at the party family and friends embraced him and each other. Years past and many loves later in 01/09/2021 I flew from Georgia to California to start a clean and sober life. It will be two years in January. I have tears in my eyes to of family here and with our KING JESUS CHRIST. I won't be with my family and friends in Georgia again this year. But GOD placed me where I need to be. If I was at home I'd be the sister(again) that talked all about AA. MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM YOU TO ME. THANK YOU FOR SHARING , IT MADE ME THINK ABOUT TIMES PAST. AND TIME REALLY DOES OAST YOU RIGHT BY.
THANK YOU AND MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU AND YOURS

Robbie Carlisle

Well I guess I’m just the brother with the Mexican friend.

skintmule

God Bless. Merry Christmas !

4 More Replies...

Ramos Lopez

My first time hearing this song was at my girlfriends Dad's house, he played this song, He looked at me and had a big laugh. I was the mexican boyfriend.

Kenny Hunter

How was your rendition of Feliz Navidad?

Mark Wolfshohl

That family probably needed a little color in their life😎

Chicken Lady

I didn't think anything could make this video better, but this comment is perfect.

More Comments

More Versions