‘Tis the season of sharing and sharing, I must. A few years ago, I tasked myself to write a holiday song. As a fan of original contemporary holiday music, I had my list of favorites; some of them probably influenced my theme, but not all of them: “River” by Joni Mitchell, “Blue Christmas” by Elvis, “Must Be Santa” by Dylan, “Please Come Home For Christmas” by The Eagles, “Merry Xmas (War is Over)” by John Lennon/Yoko Ono, “Little Saint Nick” by The Beach Boys, “Star of Bethlehem” by Neil Young & Emmylou Harris, “Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto” by James Brown, “Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses, “I Believe in Father Christmas” by Greg Lake of ELP, “Christmas in Hollis” by Run-D.M.C., “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” by The Civil Wars, and the poignant ballad “Fairytale of New York” from dearly departed Shane McGowan of The Pogues:
However, one of my all-time favorites was written by fellow Ohioans, the husband-and-wife duo Over The Rhine’s majestic “All I Ever Get for Christmas is Blue” from the equally glorious holiday album Snow Angels. In fact, they’ve released 3 holiday albums that need to be heard and played every holiday season. Check out this other stunning song from their album Blood Oranges in the Snow:
Well, I finally got an idea for a song and set off to get it recorded. Suffice it to say, I also had help from a few of my favorite local musicians. Here's my holiday folk-rock single, "Christmas (is Coming Down)," featuring Kenny Margolis (Cracker), Dan Levine (They Might Be Giants), David Ogilvy, Ms. Laura Fay Lewis, and artwork by Shiloh Jenz.
What are your favorite holiday songs? Let me know.
Merry Christmas, Holiday Blessings & Cheers, Dusty