The Offspring are ringing in the holiday season — quite literally — with a cover of Charles Brown’s 1960 tune “Please Come Home for Christmas” under the title “Bells Will Be Ringing (Please Come Home for Christmas).”
The punk vets offer a faithful rendition of the song. Guided by piano melodies, lush strings, and a backing choir, frontman Dexter Holland belts out his best Charles Brown impression. A clean guitar solo from Noodles is the only overtly “rock” element in the track, triumphantly bringing the song to a close.
“Please Come Home for Christmas” has also been famously covered by The Eagles, Jon Bon Jovi, and Kelly Clarkson, among others, but The Offspring wanted to stay true to the Charles Brown original.
“We’ve always loved the classic Charles Brown version of this song and think it’s really under-appreciated,” Holland said via a press release. “We thought it would be the perfect follow up to ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),’ which we recorded last year, and continuing on the coming home for Christmas theme.”
As Holland mentioned, The Offspring shared “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” in 2021. That version stuck closer to the band’s signature power-chord rock style, but was no less heartwarming. Hopefully, the band continues the tradition of covering lesser-heard holiday songs in the future.
The Charles Brown cover wraps up an eventful year for The Offspring. The group launched a US tour this past spring in support of its 2021 album Let the Bad Times Roll and even braved a tour vehicle fire while touring in Canada (thankfully everyone came out unscathed). A two-week run of dates in Australia — including sold-out shows in Perth, Melbourne, Wollongong, Sydney, and Brisbane — will close out 2022.
Below you can stream The Offspring’s cover of “Bells Will Be Ringing (Please Come Home for Christmas).”