[1] The lyrics tell the story of the speaker's grandmother celebrating Christmas Eve with her family and venturing out into a snowstorm while intoxicated on alcoholic eggnog and without her medication.

"[1] Under the terms of their partnership, Patsy's parents (who were established in the Southern gospel industry) earned the publishing rights to the record and would pay Brooks his due royalties, while Elmo would own the master recording and handle distribution; Elmo subsequently went on an aggressive marketing campaign to promote the song with the assistance of his future second wife, saleswoman Pam Wendell.

[2] The song was originally self-released in San Francisco by the Shropshires in 1979 on their own record label (on "Elmo 'n' Patsy" #2984), with the B-side titled "Christmas".

Shropshire credited KSFO in San Francisco, California with helping give the record major exposure.

The Epic #04703 45 opted to replace the Oink 45's B-side "Christmas" with a track from the LP ("Percy, the Puny Poinsettia").

Radio personality Bob Rivers recorded his own topical parody titled "Osama Got Run Over by a Reindeer" on the 2002 White Trash Christmas album.

In 2011, Florida-based actor and comedian Pete Clapsis released a parody entitled “Santa Got Run Over by a Grandma” as a precautionary video for elderly drivers in Florida.

In both surveys, results of which were reported in 2007, the only song that reached the top of both liked and disliked lists was "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.

The disc jockey, who was suspended, was reportedly depressed and upset that a co-worker had left employment at the station to work out-of-state.

Moreover, Santa is actually innocent of the crime, which was instead masterminded by scheming relative Cousin Mel, who is mentioned briefly in the song but made into a gold-digging villainness in the special.

In the 2015 episode of the television show Scorpion, titled "Dam Breakthrough", three of the main characters sing part of this song, while inhaling helium.

During Peter's imagined funeral in #JOLO (episode 14, of season 13, of Family Guy), three small monkeys lip sync Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.

[11] The promotional music video for Elmo & Patsy's "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" was released in the mid-1980s, and aired on MTV for at least 18 years.

The video could also be seen on VH1, CMT, TNN, GAC, and VH1 Classic during the holiday season, as well as on Spike's official website and YouTube.