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PufPuf23

(9,673 posts)
15. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Fri Nov 28, 2025, 06:51 PM
Friday

Double weird for me.

Saw this song performed live at the Incline Village Hyatt at Tahoe circa 1980 by Elmo and Patsy. It was a popular holiday novelty tune then in Northern California that noticed the novelty because saw the tune live by the original group first, just by coincidence. That is why song stuck in my head.

Double weird because had no idea of song history until just now reading the wiki. The history was that the song was new and first performed by Elmo and Patsy at the Tahoe Hyatt.

wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Got_Run_Over_by_a_Reindeer

In the song's lyrics, the narrator describes their grandmother venturing into a snowstorm on Christmas Eve. The following morning, her family discovers her lifeless body, bearing unmistakable signs of having been trampled by Santa Claus and his reindeer. The narrator's grandfather shows little concern over his wife's demise, while the rest of the family mourns Grandma and debates whether to open or return her gifts. Subsequently, the narrator declares to friends and neighbors that Santa is unfit to carry a driver's license.

Releases
According to Brooks, he came up with the idea for the song after observing a "tipsy relative" of his.[1] Brooks's uncle, Foster Brooks, was a famous comedian well known for his act as a drunk.[2] After his own band dissuaded him from recording the record himself, he sat in with Elmo and Patsy at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe in December 1978, and after the show he offered the song to the duo, who were instantly impressed and commissioned a cassette of the song for them to learn.[2] Elmo claimed, after his divorce from Patsy, that Patsy never sang on the record (even as a backup vocalist) and was only credited because their established double act used both names, noting in the interview "that's another story.

Here is a later cover of the song

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