It happens every December: the playlists turn 99% sleigh bells and cinnamon-scented cheer, and yet one completely unrelated song sneaks onto the rotation and refuses to leave. For me this year (and most years, if I’m honest), it’s Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young tearing through “Almost Cut My Hair.”

There’s exactly one wintery lyric — “Must be because I had a flu for Christmas” — and that’s it. No snowflakes, no mistletoe, no reindeer. Not very Christmasy… and yet here we are.

The Day David Crosby Almost Reached for the Scissors

The story behind the song is almost ridiculously straightforward. David Crosby, long hair, long paranoia, stared in the mirror, picked up a pair of scissors, felt the weight of every voice telling him to just cut it and fit in… and decided no.

Instead he wrote a song that’s basically a pure, roaring statement: “I’m keeping it all — hair, attitude, everything.” He told that same story for over fifty years because it never needed dressing up.

One Take, Four Legends, Zero Compromise

On the album Déjà Vu, ‘Almost Cut My Hair’ is one of the very few tracks that captures all four principal members (Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young) jamming live together on their primary instruments. One take. Vocals recorded as they sang. You can hear the guitars of Stills and Young trying to out-snarl each other while Dallas Taylor and Greg Reeves drive it forward like a runaway sled. Crosby’s voice cracks with real-time defiance. It’s messy, loud, and absolutely alive — the opposite of over-produced holiday perfection.

The Reason It’s Perfect For Christmas

December has this magical way of turning the volume up on everything — the joy, the expectations, the family traditions, the sparkling lights, the pressure to make it all “perfect”.

We want to show up as our best, most generous, most festive selves… and sometimes that means quietly trimming off the parts of us that don’t quite fit the holiday card version of life.

And that’s where this song lands. It’s the reminder that courageously being yourself — nurturing your own conviction and self-confidence, even when it’s easier to hide — can be the most radical and uplifting thing you do. And as December rolls into a new year, what better anthem to carry forward? A song about personal confidence and conviction is exactly the positive energy you want heading into January.

So no, it’s not Santa-approved. But play it loud on Christmas Eve, or New Year’s Day, or any December when you need courage in audio form, and tell me it doesn’t fit perfectly.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Leave the scissors in the drawer and let your flag fly.

Need more unconventional holiday cheer? Check out The Best Stranger Things Original Tracks.