Loved and loathed, ‘Grandma’ is a classic

Dallas Morning News

DALLAS — It arrived 30 years ago, a rebellious little ditty that became the ultimate anti-Christmas carol by killing off an eggnog- loving Grandma in the very first line.

But over those three decades, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” has managed to become something of a holiday classic. Songwriter Randy Brooks estimates that 40 million copies have been sold in various guises, from the earliest version on 45-rpm vinyl to today’s singing ornaments and plush toys and ring-tone downloads.

“I was totally surprised when it became a hit, and five years in I was still surprised,” said Brooks, who lives in Dallas and works for American Airlines. “It was written to tell a joke, kind of, and once you’ve heard a joke, you know the punch line.

“But I didn’t anticipate the way kids would like the song. And with new kids always coming along, that keeps the popularity high.”

“Grandma” became so popular that it occasionally elbowed aside holiday classics such as “White Christmas” in annual sales.

Its durability and adaptability — Brooks gets royalties from places such as Estonia and Finland — have made “Grandma” one of the most- requested, and most-loathed, Christmas songs ever.

Hear it once, and it worms its way into your brain with its irreverent lyrics and insidious jingle-bell beat. It’s much better known than the song that inspired it: Merle Haggard’s “Grandma’s Homemade Christmas Card.”

“In it, his grandma didn’t die, but listening to the song, I thought she was going to,” Brooks said. “Country music featured so many songs like that — two verses that get you to fall in love with the character, and then ‘kill ’em!’

“I thought it would be better to kill them in the first line, and then if you came up with three verses and a chorus, you’d have something. So I came up with the first line, and there was no looking back.”