Move over, Bing. Cincinnati indie rock band Tin Pilgrim is back for another holiday season and belting out what may become the newest, greatest Christmas song of all time — at least here in the Queen City.
The band’s newest holiday jam, “Cincinnati Christmas Time,” is a sparkling red, green and snowy fever dream that celebrates everything that’s wonderful about the city this time of year — from the Festival of Lights and The Nutcracker ballet to the snow and a warm dish of Cincinnati chili on a cold day. There are also nods to the not-so-great, but still very essential parts of the holiday, like long lines at Kroger, the congested parking lot at Kenwood Towne Centre and traffic jams on I-75.
But, as Tin Pilgrim sings, “I’ll get an egg nog shake from UDF; it’ll be alright.”
The song has a soulful melody, with crooning lyrics like “OOO O-HI-O / With 5-1-3 in mind, it’s Cincinnati Christmas time” and “The Roebling sings with a distant hum / and the streetcar rolls along going rum pum pum a rum pum pum.” The music video mixes the nostalgia of beloved holiday classics, like the characters of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer eating Skyline, with other animations and shots of local Christmas traditions like Santa rappelling during Downtown Dazzle, Kings Island’s Winterfest, the Shilito Elves display and the Krohn Conservatory’s holiday show.
Watch the full video, released Dec. 18, to see all the nods to Cincinnati holiday fun and learn the lyrics so you can drunkenly sing this at your family Christmas party.
And this isn’t Tin Pilgrim’s first foray into penning holiday bangers. In 2022, the band released a Christmas ode to Cincinnati chili.