Christmas in Harlem
Right after autumn falls
Soakin' it all in
Then we go hit the mall
Even though we ain't ballin'
Feels like we bought it all
The mistletoe's right here
Come give a kiss to Santa Claus

Merry Christmas to all, and all a good night
Huh, now we all livin' the good life
Yeah, though it's forty below the wind chill
And we wipin' snow up off the windshield
It's still, wonderful night to be alive, baby
And I'm, so happy I'm with my baby
And we a little late with the Christmas gifts
Rushin' for the mall, don't trip, you know I drive crazy
The streets lit up, it feel like Christmas officially
Told her that "You the star at the top of my Christmas tree"
My only question is, "Where my presents?"
She said, "Shhh" she got a gift for me that ain't for the kids to see
Well, I like the way you think, mami
Now pour some more eggnog in you drink, mami
You've been a bad girl, give Santa three kisses
Gave her the hot chocolate, she said "It's Dee-ricious"

Christmas in Harlem
Right after autumn falls
Soakin' it all in
Then we go hit the mall
Even though we ain't ballin'
Feels like we bought it all
The mistletoe's right here
Come give a kiss to Santa Claus

And I remember when I couldn't play Santa Claus
No reindeer's, just horses and a Panamera Porcshe
We on two fifth shopping, what the damage cost
I got your fam' while you bidding in the can up north
Woops, I'm at Niemens I hope they still got em
You want the thigh high spikes with the red bottoms
Let's make a toast cause Christ is born
We gon' party all night til the lights come on

Christmas in Harlem
Right after autumn falls
Soakin' it all in
Then we go hit the mall
Even though we ain't ballin'
Feels like we bought it all
The mistletoe's right here
Come give a kiss to Santa Claus

Yeah, mom and dad I won't be home for the holidays
I'm over 800 miles away
In the city that's so pretty
Where the hustlers dash through the snow without a sleigh
Tell my family that I'm sorry that I gotta stay
I'm with Ye at the Macy Day parade
Letting the snow fall on my aviator shades
Even though I'm in New York I'm still reppin' for the A

Christmas in Harlem
Right after autumn falls
Soakin' it all in
Then we go hit the mall
Even though we ain't ballin'
Feels like we bought it all
The mistletoe's right here
Come give a kiss to Santa Claus

On the stoop of that Brownstone shoveling the brownstone
Santa's on a diet, gotta get the pounds gone
Down town got me feeling like it's Dow Jones
But uptown got me feeling like it's down home
Snow like sugar hill
Chains on wheels
We turn our two doors into snowmobiles
We got our own style, no Soho feel
Put on your play clothes, how that logo feel?

Oh, pause for them photo stills
You don't wanna miss a moment
Where's your NoDoz pills
I caught her looking at my Rollie as my mojo spills
Snowflakey on the bezel
Hope you know those real
Okay my white girl Veronica
Black girl Monica
Got me celebrating ChristmaHanuKwanzaakah
Rocking dashikis with a yarmulke
Where the Christmas tree at? Let's design it up!

Christmas in Harlem
Right after autumn falls
Soakin' it all in
Then we go hit the mall
Even though we ain't ballin'
Feels like we bought it all
The mistletoe's right here
Come give a kiss to Santa Claus

Lenox Ave to Saint Nick
Never seen St Nick
Just niggas selling the same nicks, the same bricks
Same hustlers running up the broadway
That's where the snow's at, taste it, foreplay
No turkey or greens, just Jimbo's
Christmas lights in project windows
Shouts to the coldest on my barometer
Berkman, Shapiro, Kalina, Hanukkah (My lawyers)

All the flashin' lights up on a tree
The house lit up ni-ice
Wit' your family's where you wanna be
Here on Christmas night
When you wake up and you see the gifts
Don't that make you feel go-ood?
So since we all snowed in in Harlem
Let's have Christmas in the hoo-hood

All of the flashin' lights
Yeah, when they shine so bright
Always for you and me
Baby, you're Christmas Eve
If you like what you see
Won't you come sit on my knee?
Tell me everything that you want
'Cause, baby, I'm your Santa Claus

Christmas in Harlem
Right after autumn falls
Soakin' it all in
Then we go hit the mall
Even though we ain't ballin'
Feels like we bought it all
The mistletoe's right here
Come give a kiss to Santa Claus


Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher

Christmas In Harlem Lyrics as written by Shuggie Otis Marvin Gaye

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Christmas in Harlem song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

0 Comments

sort form View by:
  • No Comments

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Techno Ted
Audioslave
Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Blue
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.