"Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa" is a single by

De La Soul De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evoluti ...

, released in 1991. It was issued as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

single with "Keepin' the Faith"; the two songs were released collectively as the third single from ''

De La Soul Is Dead ''De La Soul Is Dead'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group De La Soul, released on May 13, 1991. The album was produced by Prince Paul, whose work on ''3 Feet High and Rising'' was highly praised by music critics. The album was ...

''.

Background and content

"Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa" is a narrative-based song, discussing a girl named Millie who is sexually abused by her father and takes revenge by murdering him while he is performing as a

mall Santa Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christma ...

Posdnuos Kelvin Mercer (born August 17, 1969), also known by his stage name Posdnuos, Plug 1 and occasionally Pos, is an American rapper and record producer from East Massapequa, New York, best known for his work as one third of the hip hop trio De La S ...

describes two inspirations for the song: "Millie was inspired by seeing a homeless guy in a Santa suit in the subway, but also by someone dear to me who'd been molested by her father."

Reception

"Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa" has been one of the most widely discussed tracks from ''De La Soul Is Dead''. It has been described by

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 ...

as one of "the album's most powerful moments", and by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' as a "tour de force" that "summon its power through the subtle use of metaphor". Retrospective reviews have also identified the song as one of the most prominent examples of De La Soul's exploration of darker topics on ''De La Soul Is Dead'' as compared to the group's previous work. A more negative appraisal of "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa" came from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'', where reviewer David Browne felt that the track's efficacy was undermined by De La Soul's "mild-mannered rapping".

Legacy

Producer Prince Paul would later revive one of the samples in the Full Mix of "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa" to use in "Mommy, What's a Gravedigga?" by

Gravediggaz Gravediggaz were an American Hip hop music, hip hop group from New York. Known for their Black comedy, dark sense of humor and abrasive, menacing soundscapes, Gravediggaz blended hardcore hip hop and gangsta rap with horror elements to pioneer t ...

. Hip-Hop duo

Atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

recorded a sequel, titled "Millie Fell off the Fire Escape," on their free mixtape '' Leak at Will'' in 2009. In Atmosphere's song, Millie runs away after murdering her father, contemplates going back to tell the police that she killed her father because of the sexual abuse he put her through, but instead keeps running until she sees an abandoned factory. As she climbs a ladder to get into the building, the police finally catch up with her and tell her to come down. Millie slips, falls off the ladder, and dies when she hits the ground. Another hip-hop duo

Company Flow Company Flow was an American hip hop trio from Brooklyn, New York City, consisting of Bigg Jus, El-P and Mr. Len. The group was at one time associated with the independent record label Rawkus Records. Rapper/ producer El-P and DJ/producer ...

reiterated this song instrumentally to make "Suzy Pulled A Pistol on Henry" on their second and last album '' Little Johnny from the Hospitul: Breaks & Instrumentals Vol.1''.

Single track listing

#"Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa" (Full Mix) – 4:04 #*Engineering:

Bob Power Bob Power (born January 2, 1952) is an American two time Grammy Award–nominee and multi-platinum record producer, audio engineer, composer, arranger, performer, and music educator. Early life Power was born in Chicago, moved to Rye, New York, ...

#"Keepin' the Faith" (Straight Pass) – 4:33 #*Guest Appearance: Vinia Mojica #"Keepin' the Faith" (12" UK Mix) – 7:19 #*Guest Appearance: Vinia Mojica #"Keepin' the Faith" (No Bass Mix) – 4:34 #*Guest Appearance: Vinia Mojica #"Keepin' the Faith" (LP Version) – 4:45 #*Guest Appearance: Vinia Mojica #"Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa" (Full Mix Instrumental) – 4:02 #*Engineering: Bob Power #"Keepin' the Faith" (Straight Pass Instrumental) – 4:31 #"Keepin' the Faith" (7" UK Mix) – 3:48 #*Guest Appearance: Vinia Mojica

List of samples

*"I'll Stay" and "Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?" by

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. As one of the two flagship groups of George Clinton's P-Funk collective, they helped pioneer the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, ...

*"Givin' It Up Is Givin' Up" by

Patrice Rushen Patrice Louise Rushen (born September 30, 1954) is an American jazz pianist, R&B singer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director. At the 25th Annual Grammy Awards, her 1982 single, "Forget Me Nots", received a no ...

Synthetic Substitution "Synthetic Substitution" is a 1973 song by Melvin Bliss. Originally starting life as a throwaway B-side, with "Reward" as the A-Side, the song failed to chart anywhere on its initial release because of the collapse of Opal Productions, the parent c ...

" by

Melvin Bliss Melvin McClelland (June 1, 1945-July 26, 2010) was a rhythm and blues singer known for his 1973 song " Reward/Synthetic Substitution", the B-side of which was heavily sampled

Charts

References

{{authority control 1991 singles 1991 songs American Christmas songs De La Soul songs Songs about child abuse Song recordings produced by Prince Paul (producer) Tommy Boy Records singles Songs written by David Jude Jolicoeur Songs written by Vincent Mason Songs written by Kelvin Mercer Songs written by Prince Paul (producer) Fiction about patricide