AC Exclusive Interview: Elmo Shropshire Reveals the Truth Behind Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

Though it's been around for less than thirty years, "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer," the infamous song about a matriarch with "incriminating Claus marks on her back", is, without a doubt, one of the most popular holiday tunes in the country. Recorded by Elmo Shropshire and his then wife Patsy Trigg, the song's popularity shows no sign of diminishing.

Shropshire is a Licensed Veterinarian

If the events in the song actually happened in real life, Shropshire, who adopted the stage name of "Dr. Elmo," would be more qualified to tend to the reindeer than Grandma. "When I recorded it, I really wasn't in the music business; I was a just a veterinarian and I recorded it. It was kind of a gag gift; I wanted to get some copies and just give them to my friends," Shropshire said via telephone from New York.

"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer": A Revenge Song?

Shropshire said that a friend of his, Randy Brooks, wrote the "Grandma" song. "He said it was about his grandmother; she used to imbibe a lot during the Christmas holidays. When Christmas was over, he thought it would better to say that she was run over by a reindeer than hung over," Shropshire said. "But a lot of times I say that his grandmother was very wealthy and left him out of her will, so he's been trying to get revenge ever since."

The Popularity of "Grandma" Driven by Public Demand

Shropshire said that some friends took a copy of the song to a San Francisco radio station, which started playing it. "The very first time I heard it on the radio, I was driving to work and turned the radio on and a lot of kids were calling in saying 'Play it, we want you to play it.'"

Other listeners weren't so enthusiastic. "Some other people called in and said 'That's a terrible song; don't ever play it.' I didn't know what song they were talking about and as I drove along, the DJ kept teasing everybody. He played it and, amazingly, it was my recording and I was flabbergasted. It didn't sound all that good to me, but I'm used to it now," Shropshire said.

The next year, Shropshire said that the same sort of thing happened, with people calling the radio station requesting the song. "I'm not sure if they enjoyed the song or they were so intrigued by what it was saying. A lot of people would say 'Have you heard that song where Grandma gets killed by a reindeer?'"

Dr. Elmo and Laughing Stock Records

Shropshire said Christmas music has since become a niche for him. His label, Laughing Stock Records, makes a new Christmas album each year. "We put 'Grandma' on it and write 9 new tunes to go along with it. So we have probably 45 original Christmas songs of all different kinds; most of them are humorous. We have one called 'Uncle Johnny's Glass Eye,' which I think is one of the best Christmas stories you could ever hear," he said.

The "Grandma" business has gotten to be so good, Shropshire said, that it takes all his time. He does interviews in December and, starting in January, he said he starts working on new material. "It's a full-time job. We have a whole staff working because we make new albums every year. The reason we can make new albums every year is that record companies are buying our albums and distributing them. I think we've had 4 albums on Sony/BMG in the last 4 years."

Dr. Elmo and "Santa's Email from Nigeria"

Even a savvy businessman like Dr. Elmo can get fooled. Shropshire received a generous e-mail offer from "business associates" in Nigeria, who promised him $2.7 billion in exchange for his assistance, but he's still waiting for the check to arrive. His dealings with folks like these who send bogus e-mails inspired his new song "Santa's E-Mail from Nigeria." "I got a few emails and I just sent off five thousand dollars and while I'm waiting for my $20 million, I thought I'd sit down and write a song," he said.

While Dr. Elmo is waiting for the check to arrive in the mail, visit his official website at www.drelmo.com.