“The sad part is, I can’t really play the song live anymore because too many people misunderstand the connotations of Ground Zero. It’s not a reference to 9/11, obviously. It was written in 1986 when ‘ground zero’ just meant the epicenter of a nuclear attack.”

— Weird Al Yankovic

Try to force Weird Al to do a Christmas album and this is what you’re going to get.

In 1986, Weird Al’s record label insisted that he record something for the holiday season.  In response, Yankovic came up with Christmas At Ground Zero, a Phil Spector-style production about Christmas in the aftermath of a nuclear attack.  It wasn’t really what the record company had expected and, at first, they refused to release it.  Yankovic responded by creating his own music video for the song.  This video was not only his first stab at directing but it also proved to be popular enough to convince the record company to change their position on the song.

Though the majority of this video is made up of stock footage, the live action scenes of Weird Al and the carolers performing surrounded by rubble were filmed in The Bronx.  No nuclear explosions were needed to get the bombed-out feel.  Instead, they just filmed in New York in the 80s.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!