Hello! We’re Stoph and Toby. We wrote these Christmas carols to share with as many people as we can - it’s our gift to you. As a song cycle, these carols tell a simple story. Your Christmas Wish is about a child who asks Santa for justice and a future. In Break the Machine, Santa ponders the child’s words and realizes a gift of this scope is beyond him, so he calls on his old partner Krampus. In No Kings, Krampus answers Santa’s call, bringing appropriate punishments to agents of violence, fascism and environmental degradation as the people rejoice. In Snow Falls, the people experience the Christmas promise of peace on earth for the first time, and everyone has a very merry Christmas… without billionaires.
You can also download our songbook for free - it has both the lyrics and music chords if you’d like to carol with your friends, family, community, or fellow activists to spread this message of hope.
Writing these songs gave us hope and lifted our spirits. We hope they give you hope and lift your spirits, too. And may we have peace on earth.
You have our blessing to sing or play these songs in whatever context you want. If you have questions, ideas, or want to collaborate, contact us at comekrampuscome@gmail.com.
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It’s a warm December Day
And your folks take you to pray
To Saint Nicolas himself.
They say he’ll be there waiting at the mall
It sounds too good to be true
But you are the age when magic happens
So you wait in line an hour or two
To finally get to hear your name called
You reach the throne, o much amazed
You climb the stairs, look up and gaze
At his countenance both solemn and gay
And you’re at ease, in a strange and familiar way
He doesn’t ask if you’ve been good (He knows, he knows)
Carving toys right out of wood (He knows, he knows, he knows, he knows)
He’s clad all in red, stocking cap on his head
And for the rest of your life, you’ll hear the words that he said
My child, what is your Christmas wish?
From your elevated perch aloft
You look out on this tiny wonderland
Saint Nick is bigger than you thought
Though you see his elven image everywhere
He shows you a magic toy
A wooden clown, ridiculous and round
You clap and laugh with simple joy
And you ask if it can make a sound (and he says)
He’ll dance by day, protect you by night
And teach you secret tricks in the bright moonlight
You can’t help but look up at Santa’s grin
His smiling eyes that let you walk right in
He doesn’t ask if you’ve been good (He knows, he knows)
Carving toys right out of wood (He knows, he knows, he knows, he knows)
His beard’s so white, glowing with soft light
And for the rest of your days his words’ll echo tonight
My child, what is your Christmas wish?
Then Santa asks would you like a toy like this?
But he sees in your eyes a subtle shift
And he knows that you have a different wish
Familiar and strange
And he can tell that you’re shy and he leans in close
And he asks you to try to share what you want most
And you pause, ‘cause it’s clear he already knows
Familiar and strange…and the room feels the exchange…and the air starts to change…(and you say)
Justice, justice, Santa, I don’t want another toy
Justice, justice, Santa, I seek a deeper joy
The system turns some folks too greedy
They conspire to steal from the needy
Bad folks are stealing my future and I want justice
Justice, justice, Santa, life is short and so am I
Justice, justice, Santa, but I’m old enough to cry
Cry out for the justice I know that should be
Cry out for the justice that I want to see
Please save us from systems that poison our air
Built by cruel-hearted people who simply don’t care
Bad folks are stealing my future and I want justice
You pause…was this too much, you fear?
But then you spot a smile behind his white beard
What is he thinking? What should you do?
What is he feeling? But then he speaks to you
Tender child, I must think on your words
But you will have your wish, rest assured
And you’ll have a jolly Yule, the egg nog will flow
And you’ll have your justice and we’ll bring back the snow
He doesn’t ask if you’ve been good
He knows. He knows.
Carving toys right out of wood
He knows. He knows. He knows. He knows.
You hop off his lap, to your parents you run
But your smiling because you know something’s begun
Justice is your Christmas wish
-
The crowds dwindled toward midnight and Santa could breathe
To ponder what he’d been pond’ring all night
Stepped right through the back door, through to the north pole
Into the glow on the snow from the northern lights
And in the glow of his workshop where his wond’ring occurs:
“How can I give this from thin air?
The child wants justice? Justice from me?
To right the worlds’ wrongs and sing some new songs
About a Yule where God’s children are safe and free
I’m a simple toy-maker, I’m not an earth-shaker
This isn’t my bailiwick
I must call on my kin, call my brother in spirit
The beast of the alps…and quick
Come, Krampus, come, you must break the machine
Bring your sack and your bundle of sticks
The wicked could use a quick visit from you
Oh, God’s children need your Christmas tricks
Oh, God’s children could use Christmas
In all of my Seventeen Hundred years
I’ve never seen so much poison be spilled
They’re stealing our future to stay in the past
So ring the bells, rattle chains, or nobody will
Come from the black forest, let the stars be a chorus
Head west till you hear our cry
My furry friend come, oh our hope is scant
I’ve a wish to deliver, but I’m a forgiver
So to give what I can, you must do what I can’t
Our children need saving from being enslaved to capital’s bottomless greed
Wall Street is un-frightened, it’s time their enlightened
So come in our hour of need
Come, Krampus, come, you must break the machine
Bring your sack and your bundle of sticks
The wicked could use a quick visit from you
Oh, God’s children need your Christmas tricks
Oh God’s children could use Christmas
Come, Krampus, come
Come, Krampus, come
Come, Krampus, come
Come, Krampus, come
Come, Krampus, come, you must break the machine
Bring your sack and your bundle of sticks
The wicked could use a quick visit from you
Oh, God’s children need your Christmas tricks
Oh, God’s children need something that sticks
Oh God’s children could use Christmas…
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Joy fills our hearts, song fills the air
Krampus brings Christmas without Billionaires
Peace on earth, healing and kindness and care
Krampus brings Christmas without Billionaires
And every creature sings:
No Kings! No Kings! No Kings!
First Krampus comes for the forces who serve their owners instead of their neighbors
Officers blindly just following orders, ignoring their colleagues’ behavior
Panic makers, children takers, into the sack they all go
The flame of justice, it spreads heart to heart
And our hope will finally grow
Joy fills our hearts, song fills the air
Krampus brings Christmas without Billionaires
Peace on earth, healing and kindness and care
Krampus brings Christmas without Billionaires
And every creature sings:
No Kings! No Kings! No Kings!
Next Krampus comes for the senators for sale and all their corporate buyers.
Fossil Fuel Servants who sicken the air, health insurance claim deniers
Water takers, poison makers, into the sack they all go
The flame of justice, it spreads heart to heart
And our hope will finally grow
Joy fills our hearts, song fills the air
Krampus brings Christmas without Billionaires
Peace on earth, healing and kindness and care
Krampus brings Christmas without Billionaires
And every creature sings:
No Kings! No Kings! No Kings!
Now there’s oil derricks and pipelines to break, machines that poison for business
This one’s a no brainer because, after all, corporations aren’t people on Christmas
Fracking towers, corporate powers, all of them will be brought low
The flame of justice, it spreads heart to heart
And our hope will finally grow
Joy fills our hearts, song fills the air
Krampus brings Christmas without Billionaires
Peace on earth, healing and kindness and care
Krampus brings Christmas without Billionaires
And every creature sings:
No Kings! No Kings! No Kings!
Finally he comes for the ones at the top whose greed makes them endlessly cruel
O what a gift, O his justice is swift, and a better world starts on this Yule
Peace for us! Beware the Krampus! Into the sack they all go!
The flame of justice, it spreads heart to heart
And our hope will finally grow
Joy fills our hearts, song fills the air
Krampus brings Christmas without Billionaires
Peace on earth, healing and kindness and care
Krampus brings Christmas without Billionaires
And every creature sings:
No Kings! No Kings! No Kings!
-
Then for the first time in what feels like years
There’s silence and peace and no more tears
The sound of the world sighing fills our ears
Familiar and strange
And we shyly look to the skies and see
The first flakes of snow the clouds set free
And free is the feeling we all know to be
Familiar and strange…and the world feels the exchange…and the world starts to change…you gave us
Justice, justice, Santa, our wish has been completed
Justice, justice, Krampus, evil’s been defeated
Our shouts break the silence, with joy, oh sublime
We’ve been given a chance to do better this time
We’ll keep calling for justice we know that should be
We’ll keep calling for justice that we want to see
But for now all that we can say is…thank you.
Snow falls! Snow falls! Snow falls! Look up!
Snow falls! Snow falls! Snow falls! Look up!
The old power is shattered
The wicked, they are all scattered
Thanks to Krampus and Nick, look outside now and quick, the blanket of white
And we’ll feel the glow of the fire, we’ll dance beside its glow
Oh we’ll sing until we are tired with everyone we know
Let’s dance in the snow…
Snow falls! Snow falls! Snow falls! Look up!
Snow falls! Snow falls! Snow falls! Look up!
And it lasts till February, no work, just us all making merry
A real Christmastide, O come running outside, all your kinfolk await
And we’ll feel the glow of the fire
We’ll dance beside its glow
Oh we’ll sing until we are tired
With everyone we know
Let’s dance in the snow…
We break the machines, we break the machines, and carve the toys by hand
We break the machines, we break the machines, and carve the toys by hand
We break the machines, we break the machines, and carve the toys by hand
We break the machines, we break the machines
We break the machines, we break the machines
Snow falls! Snow falls! Snow falls! Look up!
Snow falls! Snow falls! Snow falls! Look up!
Look up. Look up. Look up. Look up.
Look up.