"I Hate December" (stylized as "i hate december") is a song by American band

Ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern ...

, released on January 12, 1996 by

Scratchie Records Scratchie Records was an independent record label founded in 1995 by James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky of The Smashing Pumpkins, Adam Schlesinger (Fountains of Wayne, Ivy), Kerry Brown (Catherine) and Jeremy Freeman. Initially, Scratchie was based in ...

. The track came from the band's first

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

, '' Lately'' (1994). It was written and produced by

Andy Chase Andy Chase is an American musician, record producer, and label owner. He formed the band Ivy with Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Dominique Durand, now his wife. Chase owns Unfiltered Records and co-owned Stratosphere Sound studio with ...

and

Adam Schlesinger Adam Lyons Schlesinger (October 31, 1967 – April 1, 2020) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He was a founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, and Tinted Windows, and was also a member of the ban ...

, while Dominique Durand also contributed to the lyrics and Peter Nashel handled additional production. While the version that appeared on ''Lately'' was not released as a commercial single, a remix was created and distributed as a

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

instead. ''I Hate December'' has a darker theme compared to most

holiday songs A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

, with Durand singing about her dreams and fears of death.

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

host

Matt Pinfield Matthew Pinfield (born May 28, 1961) is an American television host, disc jockey, and music executive. He first reached national prominence as a VJ on MTV. He served two stints as the host of the alternative music program ''120 Minutes'', from ...

even compared to the 1982

Fear Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the ...

single " Fuck Christmas". "I Hate December" received praise for its songwriting and uniqueness. A music video directed and produced by Doug Werby was filmed and released in 1995. The video, which shows Ivy performing in a restaurant, received regular rotation on

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, through PMN’s MTV Entertainment Group Subdivision. The channel launched initially as an all-music ...

's music program ''

120 Minutes ''120 Minutes'' is a television program in the United States dedicated to the Alternative rock, alternative music genre, that originally aired on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then aired on MTV's associate channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003. After it ...

'' in 1996.

Background and composition

"I Hate December" was initially included on Ivy's debut

, '' Lately'' (1994), which was released by

Seed Records Seed Records has been the name of multiple record labels. 1970s American label Seed Records was a record label started in 1972 by Paul Clark, a musician involved in the Jesus music movement. The label ran until circa 1981, when he started ...

. The composition was written by Dominique Durand,

, and

, with the latter two and Peter Nashel tackling its production. The single was recorded in 1994 during sessions at The Place in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and Studio I'Hôpital Éphémère in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Ted Jensen handled the mastering of "I Hate December" (and the rest of the material on ''Lately'') at

Sterling Sound Studios George Marino (April 15, 1947June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He attended ...

in New York City. After Ivy ended their partnership with Seed and signed with

in late 1995, a remix of the single was created and released as a

on January 12, 1996. The physical single contained the remix, an extended remix and the album version of "I Hate December"; it was issued in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and in the latter country, it was simultaneously released by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

in a limited edition jewel box set. In general, "I Hate December" has a darker theme that is rarely heard in

Christmas music Christmas music comprises a variety of Music genre, genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas and holiday season, Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of Christmas ...

. Durand talks about her fears of death, singing: "All I know is what I dream / But lately dreams have been such scary things / Of suicide and frozen ice over my pale body". ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' editor Ira A. Robbins joked that with ''Lately'', Ivy was attempting to bring

French pop music French pop music is pop music sung in the French language. It is usually performed by singers from France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, or any of the other francophone areas of the world. The target audience is the francophone market (primari ...

back into the American music industry. In his book ''The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock'', Robbins and Vickie Gilmer summarized it as an "original ..wah-wahing" song recorded in the " City of Lights". On an episode of the MTV2 music program ''

'', Schlesinger described the message behind "I Hate December" as "anti-Christian". In response, host

compared the lyrics and inspiration behind "I Hate December" to "that

single eleasedyears ago" (referring to that band's 1982 single " Fuck Christmas").

Critical reception

Nitsuh Abebe from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

positively reviewed the track (and ''Lately''), claiming that "I Hate December" and the four other tracks allow "their dreamier elements ocome straight from the group's songwriting"; he also liked the production, describing it as "delicate" and "gentle". Indi from Canadian Atheist remarked that the single is "lovely" and applauded Ivy for disobeying the rules of a traditional holiday song. Longtime friend and collaborator

D'arcy Wretzky D'arcy Elizabeth Wretzky (born May 1, 1968) is an American musician. She was the original bassist of the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins and is credited on their first six studio albums. She left the band in 1999. She has also been a ...

labeled the track as her "favorite Ivy song".

Music video

The official music video for "I Hate December" was directed and produced by Doug Werby sometime in 1995. The

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

video opens with Ivy performing live at a restaurant, continuing until the bridge of the song, when blurry close-ups of the band members are shown. On the November 17, 1996 episode of ''120 Minutes'', the official music video for "I Hate December" was played for promotional purposes, in addition to the music videos for

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

's 1997 single "

Four Leaf Clover The four-leaf clover is a rare mutation of the common three-leaf clover that has four leaflets instead of three. According to traditional sayings, such clovers bring good luck, a belief that dates back to at least the 17th century. The term '' ...

" and

Fountains of Wayne Fountains of Wayne is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young (drummer), Brian Young. They released six album ...

's 1996 single "

Radiation Vibe "Radiation Vibe" is the debut single by Fountains of Wayne, from their eponymous debut album. It was released in 1996 on Atlantic Records. Single releases "Radiation Vibe" was released as a vinyl single with "Karpet King" as the b-side. There was ...

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the "I Hate December" CD single. *

– lyrics,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

*Bill Chesley – editing *Dominique Durand – lead and background vocals, lyrics *Peter Nashel – editing, production *

– lyrics, production *Jean-Pierre Sluys – recording

Release history

References

Works cited * {{authority control 1994 songs 1996 singles American Christmas songs Ivy (band) songs Songs written by Adam Schlesinger Songs written by Andy Chase Songs written by Dominique Durand