Merry Christmas ... Have a Nice Life

Merry Christmas ... Have a Nice Life is the sixth studio album and first Christmas album released by Cyndi Lauper. It combines original compositions by Lauper and collaborator Jan Pulsford with traditional Christmas songs. "Feels Like Christmas" previously appeared on Lauper's 1993 album Hat Full of Stars. The album has sold 26,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[3] The album was released for the first time on (limited green) vinyl, 1,000 pressings, in November 2019.^[4]

Merry Christmas ... Have a Nice Life
Studio album by Cyndi Lauper
Released	October 27, 1998 (1998-10-27)
Recorded	1993–1998
Genre	Christmas music
Length	41:59
Label	Epic
Producer	Cyndi Lauper Jan Pulsford Junior Vasquez William Wittman
Cyndi Lauper chronology
Sisters of Avalon (1996) Merry Christmas ... Have a Nice Life (1998) Shine (2002)
Singles from Merry Christmas ... Have a Nice Life
"Early Christmas Morning" Released: 1998

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Los Angeles Times	[2]

Track listing

1. "Home on Christmas Day" (Rob Hyman, Cyndi Lauper, William Wittman) – 4:06
2. "Early Christmas Morning" (Lauper, Jan Pulsford) – 5:07 (Previously released on Sisters of Avalon Japanese Edition, this version uses different backing vocals)
3. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (Johnny Marks) – 2:45
4. "Christmas Conga" (Lauper, Pulsford) – 3:31
5. "Minnie and Santa" (Lauper, Pulsford) – 3:55
6. "Feels Like Christmas" (Eric Bazilian, Hyman, Lauper) – 4:30 (Previously released on Hat Full of Stars)
7. "Three Ships" (Traditional) – 2:08
8. "New Year's Baby (First Lullaby)" (Lauper) – 4:27
9. "December Child" (Lauper, Pulsford) – 3:11
10. "In the Bleak Midwinter" (Gustav Holst, Christina Rossetti) – 4:02
11. "Silent Night" (Franz Gruber, Josef Mohr) – 4:18

All tracks produced by Cyndi Lauper, Jan Pulsford and William Wittman except:

• "Early Christmas Morning" produced by Cyndi Lauper, Jan Pulsford and Mark Saunders
• "Home on Christmas Day" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" produced by Cyndi Lauper and William Wittman
• "Feels Like Christmas" produced by Cyndi Lauper and Junior Vasquez

Personnel

Cyndi Lauper – lead vocals, background vocals (4, 8), rhythm guitar (1), dulcimer (1, 7), omnichord banjo (5), drums (5), clogging (7), tin whistle (7, 10), recorder (7, 9), slide baritone ukele (8) Rob Hyman – synths (1), backing vocals (1), organ (3), melodica (3), beatbox (3), accordion (4, 7) William Wittman – 12-string guitar (1), electric bass guitar (1, 3, 5, 8), backing vocals (1, 3), organ (1), drums (1), omnichord (3), additional recording (11) Jan Pulsford – loops (1, 4, 8), synths (4, 8, 9, 10) organ (5), harp (5), digital editing (7, 10), transcription (2), additional keys (11), sampling (11) Catherine Russell – background vocals (4) The Inquisitors – background vocals (4, 5, 8) Tom Malone – trombone (4) Jim Hynes – trumpet (4) Peter Eldridge – transcription (5, 11) David Schnaufer – dulcimer (7, 10), Tennessee music box (7, 10) Declyn Wallace Lauper-Thornton – baby gurgling (8)

Chatterton Elementary School Choir, Merrick, NY ("Early Christmas Morning" and "Silent Night") Justine Lane Alexandra Thornton Jessica Haviland Julianna Cohen Liza Witmer Marti Gruber Christopher Safrath Brian Zagon Stefanie Salino Caroline Walker Sheahan Brown Gregory Meditz Erica Leigh Meditz Julia Kelsey Claudia Greenspan (Choir Mistress)

Charts

Chart (1998)	Peak position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[5]	75

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label	Catalog
Japan[6]	21 October 1998	CD	Sony Music Japan	ESCA 7362
United States[6]	27 October 1998		Sony Music, Epic Records	EK 69611
		Cassette		ET 69611
Austria[6]	2 November 1998	CD		492544 2
United Kingdom[6]	16 November 1998
Australia[6]	23 November 1998
Brazil[6]	November 1998			758.498/2-492544
Japan[6]	20 November 2002		Sony Music Japan	EICP-7081
United States[6]	25 May 2004		Sony Music, Epic Records	92714
Japan[6]	3 November 2004		Sony Music Japan	MHCP-512
United States[6]	25 October 2005		Sony BMG	94340
	1 November 2019	LP[7]	Sony, Real Gone Music