Fun fact -- Weird Al was pretty much forced by his record label to record a Christmas song. This was the result. Moral of this story -- don't MAKE Weird Al do something he doesn't want to do, because he'll make it backfire on you. (And produce one of the finest examples of black comedy at the same time.)

Saw Weird Al on this last tour, and he said "This is a song I wrote 35 years ago, but lucky me, it's more relevant today than ever before" and went right into this.

I can't get over how well that air raid siren blends together with the rest of the music.

My favorite line has always been, "if you see somebody climbing down your chimney, you better load your gun and shoot to kill ". That line has cracked me up since I was 10 and still does 30+ years later

Hands down, the greatest Christmas song ever written on the subject of thermonuclear war.

Funny story: When this song came out my husband was stationed in a nuclear warhead division in Greece (you had to have a secret clearance just to come onto base) He played this song on his speakers out the window. The troops thought it was hilarious, but the base commander came over and told him to never, ever do that again.

I love how when he says the line "the radio just let us know that this is not a test" the woman next to the radio just smiles as if it's a joke

Just the thought of Al's record label forcing him to do a Christmas song and expecting a cute, commercially-friendly holiday tune about junk food or something and getting THIS in return raises this song from "amusing" to "utterly hilarious" territory.

The 50's had the perfect blend of optimism and pessimism, like "The death blast is coming, but we'll be fine if we get underneath this picnic blanket!"

Christmas...Christmas never changes..

Al is one of those amazing comedians who is somehow both wholesome/family friendly and incredibly dark/violent at the same time. He's got that wonderful Looney Tunes type quality that somehow makes it work.

I'm an Uber driver in Nashville. Picked up a guy and we started talking music. We shared a passion for Weird Al. So he asked for the Aux. I gladly handed it over and since it was Christmas Eve, he played the night santa went crazy, then this. We laughed and joked, not knowing that less than 12 hours later, someone would blow up an RV downtown on Christmas morning. True story.

You can't graduate from Army basic training until you pass an end of course test. When I was in, they called it Soldier Stakes; they either marched or trucked the whole company to this huge building and you went from sergeant to sergeant doing hands-on evaluations. One of my troops was going through with a guy from WAY the hell down south...this guy gets up to the sergeant who's testing the React to a Nuclear Explosion task. Sergeant asks him, "Private, how would you react if you saw a nuclear blast in front of you?" The correct answer is, "Sergeant, I would immediately dive to the ground on top of my weapon, cover all exposed skin, and tuck my hands under my body." Then the sergeant would ask why you laid on top of your weapon and you were supposed to answer, "Sergeant, I would lay on top of your weapon so it doesn't blow away." He would then ask why you covered all your skin and you were supposed to answer, "Sergeant, I would cover my exposed skin so it doesn't get burned." (They never really explained how you were supposed to have the time to do all these things, just that you were supposed to do them.) Not this fucking guy. "Private, how would you react if you saw a nuclear blast in front of you?" "Sergeant, I would bend over and kiss my ass goodbye." He passed, on grounds that it would work about as well as what you learned in basic training.

Weird Al doesn't need a gas mask, he is indestructible.

Unlike most things of my childhood, this has aged well. Damnit.

It's nearly Christmas and this song is relevant again. 😱

I played this for my friends at our hangout. They were all like, "Ugh, are you kidding me? You're playing a Christmas song?" "Everywhere the atom bombs are droppin" "Wait, WTF did he just say?" Haha, Merry Christmas!

Only weird Al can make thermonuclear war cheerful

This song aged perfectly for 2022

"if someone is climbing down the chimney you better grab your gun and shot to kill!" Greatest line of the greatest Christmas song ever!

The world in 1986: "The Soviets are gonna nuke us!" Al: This

As a child of the Cold war, I always find this song comforting this time of year. I may have issues

The song that hits the feels no matter what.. And it will hit.. it will.

It's all fun and games until Santa says "These presents will blow you away."

I remember I played this in my drama class back in high school. The teacher was mortified thinking it was about 9/11. This song came out in '86!

When I was in middle school I used this song as the background to my PowerPoint presentation on the Cuban missile crisis. It was on point!

It's like Dr. Strangelove:the Holiday Special...only Weird Al could make a dark comedy out of a Christmas song! Genius!!

The note-matching in the last few seconds of the song is insane, from Weird Al's last sung note blending seamlessly into the music and then, out of that same trope-perfect music, the air raid siren emerges. Twistedly perfect!

I snuck this into our family Christmas music... just to see if anyone would notice. No one did HA!!

This Christmas is gonna be a blast *ill see myself out*

Only Weird Al could pull off humor this dark!

I remember when my grandfather used to sing this when the Christmas sirens went off, we all cried because it was so beautiful. What a great Christmas Carol🎄

431 people don't understand that Weird Al wrote and recorded this song BEFORE 9/11 and is joking about a nuclear attack.

When the song ends and the sirens don’t stop

Perfect song to play and cheer yourself up right after watching Dr. Strangelove.

This the most joyful Christmas song I have ever heard

one of the darkest songs weird al has ever wrote. i seriously want this song as a mod for fallout 3, new vegas, or 4.

I played this song last year around Christmas and my mother got very angry that I "played a song making fun of 9/11". I then informed her that "ground zero" didn't come from 9/11, but rather is where a disaster occurs.

Can we please have this play on the radio in a Fallout game? Maybe a Wasteland Christmas DLC?

I'm wondering if we're all going to be singing this soon.

When you're playing Fallout 4 in December.

when north Korea tells americans to expect a surprise on christmas

"look at all that snow!" "it's June" "we're luck-" "Jim, a nuke just dropped" "oh"

Track one of "Nuclear Winter Wonderland" Look for it on holotape.

This is the only Christmas song I can listen to when it isn't Christmas time.

Here's the story behind this song as I hear it. Weird Al was ordered to do a Christmas song by the record company he didn't want to do it but this was his answer classic

Is it wrong that I'd much rather listen to this every year than the cheesy and saccharine Christmas songs on the radio?

I had an absolute “Blast” listening to this song. I’m still “Glowing” with excitement!

Merry Christmas from Vault-Tec!

This is humanity's end credits theme lmao

Growing up in the 50's, those particular sirens were terrifying. I still get a little panicky when I hear them. They are the death knell of the nuclear age.

Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter.

casually puts this on my Fallout 4 playlist

Too bad they never play this on the radio around Christmas time.

This is one of those songs where the music is so blastingly cheerful that if you don't know the title, you're bound to miss the point. honestly incredibly clever.

Bomb humbug.

For those of you about to post "this is offensive because it's making fun of 9/11," please note a few things: 1. This song was released in 1986, 15 years before 9/11. 2. Ground Zero is a general military term for where a nuclear weapon lands. 3. This song is a criticism of the Cold War. If it were about 9/11, it wouldn't mention radiation, nukes, or missiles because the World Trade Center was hit by airplanes, not nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons have not been used offensively since WWII.

I was hilariously terrified by this tune in the 80’s, and it seems to be more relevant every day.

5 years later and now it's more a reality then a song. Smh

THIS ISN'T FUNNY ITS COMEDY GOLD

As far as I’m concerned, this is the only acceptable Christmas song to play in public

This is the absolute perfect song to end 2021 on.

This might be a controversial opinion but I think this has got to be my favorite Christmas song of all time

"Well, the big day is only a few hours away now. I'm sure you're all looking forward to it as much as we are..."

If this song hasn't been in a Fallout game yet, I shall be very surprised

I love the part with Reagan. A true masterpiece of a 60’s missile crisis Christmas.

This is WAY better than any traditional Christmas music!

This should be on the fallout soundtrack

Ahhhh the memories of the "Duck & Cover" drills in school during the 60's. Desks were a lot stronger back then.

Weird Al in 1986: The sleigh bells are ringing and the carolers are singing while the air raid sirens blare! Someone at CNN in Feb 2022: Hey, I like that idea! Let's put on the Applebees ad with the hokey country song right after showing air raid sirens going off in Kyiv! It'll be great!!

Weird al has a spongebob sound to hin lol

People who think this song is about 9/11 obviously did not do their research. The song's "Ground Zero" refers to the nickname for an area that has been hit by nuclear weapons, like in the song. The song came out in the 1980s, approximately 15 years before 9/11/01. If you bothered to LISTEN to the song, there's no connection to 9/11 and it's instead about Christmas Day during a nuclear war. And Weird Al would NEVER be so insensitive and tasteless to write about one of the most upsetting days in American history. So complaining that this song is about 9/11 is like complaining that "Fat" is making fun of childhood obesity.

I think the center of any shopping mall during Christmas season would be considered "Ground Zero."

So, its starting to look like it'll be Easter at Ground Zero.

Never thought I'd be praying for this kinda Christmas, but here we are.

I've heard of a white Christmas but never an atomic Christmas.

Parents: You can choose any Christmas carol Me: Plays this song Parents: Get out

The funniest thing about this is that most of the clips in the video shown would end up with you blind or dead because if you even see the flash out of the corner of your eye your blind

Okay, I've never seen or heard that line from Ronald Raygun in this song before, but I gotta say it's the PERFECT icing upon a particularly delicious holiday treat. Happy Holidays, everybody!!

Due to how 2020 is turning out this is going to play on Christmas Eve.

Lyrics: It's Christmas at Ground Zero There's music in the air The sleigh bells are ringing and the carolers are singing While the air raid sirens blare It's Christmas at Ground Zero The button has been pressed The radio just let us know That this is not a test Everywhere the atom bombs are dropping It's the end of all humanity No more time for last-minute shopping It's time to face your final destiny Well it's Christmas at Ground Zero There's panic in the crowd We can dodge debris while we trim the tree Underneath the mushroom cloud You might hear some reindeer on your rooftop Or jack frost on your windowsill But if someone's climbing down your chimney You better load your gun and shoot to kill Oh, it's Christmas at Ground Zero And if the radiation level's okay I'll go out with you and see all the new Mutations on new year's day It's Christmas at Ground Zero Just seconds left to go I'll duck and cover with my yuletide lover Underneath the mistletoe It's Christmas at Ground Zero Now the missiles are on their way What a crazy fluke We're gonna get nuked on this jolly holiday What a crazy fluke We're gonna get nuked on this jolly holiday

1:25 the siren harmonizes with the song lol

Relevant now more than ever. Perhaps we need an Easter 2022 update ?

Yes... ANYONE who thinks this is about 911 is ignorant and needs to look when the song was recorded.... On a different note... one of my favorite Christmas songs I play it all the time at my dj gigs during the holidays lol

I wish people would realize what the song is about instead of making assumptions. The song is about the extinction of humanity due to the world being cleansed in atomic fire, not the 9/11 attacks! Weird Al isn't THAT dark!

One of my faves. My boy counted genres Weird Al has played with, and it was something in the realm of 60+. Keep it up, Your Royal Weirdness. We all salute you.

Well look at the bright side, we won't have to hear "All I Want For Christmas Is You", anymore.

If it was total fallout, ground zero, and I watched Weird Al Yankovic singing this song in the middle of time square, I would die happy.

Nothing says Christmas like nuclear annihilation.

This song is frighteningly topical for 2022.

This guy never runs out of great ideas!

Alternate ending to Dr. Strangelove.

Oh so that's how Fallout 3 happened!

The song everyone will play Christmas 2022

Just in case anyone was wondering, this song came out in 1986, it isn't speaking about 9/11 as it hadn't happened yet.

Why did people think this was about 9/11 at any point? The lyrics make it obvious it's about atom bombs not planes flying into towers.

I see the title and think "Oof, 9/11? That's a bit dark..." But then I realised it was about global thermonuclear annihilation and thought "Oh, that's OK then"

This song bring me back to the cold war. As a Western European it is a stark reminder of what we children had to go through, the fear and anxiety for the future. I also remember "Russians" with Sting, another great and important song about the cold war. ....and now the "Russians" are at it again. *deep sigh* Edit: And Reagan was president of the US so that's why he is featured in the video.

I come here every year. Merry Christmas 2022!

1:20 love the way the guy pushes the girl out of the way to try to get shelter first