"Santa Claus and His Old Lady" is a

bit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communications. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represente ...

Cheech and Chong Cheech & Chong are a comedy duo consisting of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. The duo found commercial and cultural success in the 1970s and 1980s with their stand-up routines, studio recordings, and feature films, which were based on the hippie a ...

, one of their best-known comedy routines. It was the duo's first single. "Santa Claus and His Old Lady" did not appear on the duo's eponymous debut album, although the B-side, "Dave," did. It has since received continued airplay on radio stations during the Christmas season, particularly those that switch to temporary all-Christmas music formats. It peaked at number 4 on the '' Billboard'' Christmas Singles chart upon its release in 1971, then peaked again at number 3 on the same chart in 1972 and 1973. (Entries on any given week's Christmas Singles chart were ineligible for the corresponding edition of the Hot 100 at the time.)

Synopsis

The sketch begins with Cheech at the piano attempting to write a parody of " ¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?" (Spanish for "Where is Santa Claus?"), a Christmas song by Augie Rios from 1958, to little success. Chong enters, at which point he reveals that he has never heard of Santa Claus (Chong repeatedly mistakes Santa Claus for a musician). Cheech then explains the story of Santa Claus, but from an unusual perspective. In 1966, Santa and his wife began in

the projects Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, de ...

in an apartment next door to Cheech, after which, in no small part due to a combination of excessive noise from "hammering and pounding all night" and the

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

-infused brownies for which Mrs. Claus became known, they were driven out and formed a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

at the North Pole with a large group of midgets, supporting themselves with

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

and food stamps. Cheech explains that the reason Santa's sleigh can fly is because he "took the

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

" and liberally used " magic dust" and that uncomfortable experiences with

Border Patrol A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In dif ...

and Southerners who threatened to cut off his hair and beard prompted him to go

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...

. According to Cheech, Santa Claus now works undercover as a Salvation Army bell-ringer, at which point Chong once again, and more certainly this time, asserts he really had played music with Santa Claus. In contrast to most of their other sketches, Cheech and Chong play fictionalized versions of themselves in this bit. (Chong himself was a musician before beginning his collaboration with Cheech, most prominently as a songwriter and vocalist for

Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers were a Canadian soul band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The group recorded for the Gordy Records division of Motown Records in 1968, where they had a top 30 hit single, "Does Your Mama Know About Me". As ...

in the late 1960s; he somewhat fictionalizes this in the song, however, stating not that he is from his real hometown of Vancouver, but instead from

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

B-side

The B-side was "Dave," one of the duo's earliest and most famous sketches. In this sketch, a man named Dave (Cheech), who is apparently on the run from the police, attempts to enter the locked apartment of his roommate (Chong), who will not answer the door. As Dave repeatedly tries to identify himself, the roommate instead thinks he is asking for Dave, and replies "Dave's not here."

References

{{Authority control Songs about Santa Claus 1971 singles Canadian comedy songs Comedy sketches Christmas novelty songs Cheech and Chong songs Songs about cannabis Ode Records singles Song recordings produced by Lou Adler