David Byrne's Christmas Playlist Is Better Than Yours

He's listening to the Pogues, Tierra Whack, 100 gecs and more this festive season

BY Sydney BrasilPublished Dec 20, 2023

Another holiday, another excuse for David Byrne to share a playlist and remind us all he's more in touch than we are. Following his Valentine's Day playlist in February, the prolific musician and Talking Heads bandleader has shared his Christmas playlist for NPR's Fresh Air series.

As usual, his picks are ever eclectic, oscillating between Paul Simon, Phoebe Bridgers, 100 gecs and even ex-Disney star Sabrina Carpenter. He, of course, also had to do some self-promo and included his track from last year, "Fat Man's Coming."

Byrne was also sure to include some classics, including the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" and James Brown's "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto," while making room for the likes of LCD Soundsystem and Tierra Whack to become newfound classics.

In return for this playlist, our gift to Byrne this holiday season is the 10/10 we gave the Stop Making Sense remaster earlier this year — one of only three perfect scores we gave in 2023.

Listen to the playlist below. 


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