Song of the week #17
Meet Up For Christmas
I wrote this Christmas song in November/December 2017. I had previously tried to write a Christmas song several times but none of them had progressed further than a title or a few half-hearted lyric fragments.
But this one was different. The chorus lyrics came first and I then focused on the tune, which I arranged using the Sibelius score writing software, shaping the arrangement until I had a piece of music which sounded satisfying in its own right. I used my favourite trick of writing the verse in a different key to the chorus to give a feeling of lift when the chorus returns. Also the chords to the line "Oh, we can sit by the firelight sipping summer's sweet wine" came about quite accidentally: I played the wrong chords as I was singing the tune to my guitar, but those "wrong" chords sounded richer and more interesting than the correct ones so I decided to go with my instinct. Incidentally, I'm convinced that Vaughan Williams had a similar "happy accident" when he wrote The Lark Ascending. The French horn tune is accompanied by two oscillating chords which don't quite fit the tune and sound as if they are half a bar late. Here is Vaughan Williams tune:
and here is my “happy accident”:
I returned to the lyrics and worked on those for a day or two until I was happy with them. The recording was an easy matter although very time-consuming, as I worked steadily through each note of the orchestral parts to ensure that it sounded as if a real orchestral musician was playing. There are no guitar or keyboard parts to worry about so I could focus all my attention on these orchestral parts. The First Nowell is one of my favourite Christmas carols so I couldn't resist quoting from it at the end of my song.
I had limited time to create the video, with less than a week to go before Christmas. So I thought of singing into my phone while sitting in front of my Christmas tree. I then green-screened the result against a Christmas setting with cosy log fire and falling snow outside. Sometimes working to a tight deadline can give simple, but very effective, results.
The song reached the semi-finals in the 2019 UK Songwriting Contest:
Click on the link below to see the YouTube video:
Meet Up for Christmas
Why don’t we meet up for Christmas and never ask why?
Before the holly and the mistletoe are withered and dry
Well, there’s no reason to wait till spring flowers appear
So, we should meet up for Christmas this year.
Before the last leaves of autumn scatter down from the skies
And winter’s dominion has cast away his disguise
Oh, we can sit by the firelight sipping summer’s sweet wine
While the warmth that we radiate is like the August sunshine
So, we should meet up for Christmas and never ask why.
Before the holly and the mistletoe are withered and dry
So why on earth should we wait till spring flowers appear
Why don’t we meet up for Christmas this year?
We’ll have some drunken conversations by the Christmas tree lights
And all of our opinions will set the world bang to rights
Oh, we can share so much laughter – maybe shed a few tears
But there’s no time to deliberate. Let’s meet at Christmas this year.
Why don’t we meet up for Christmas and never ask why?
Before the holly and the mistletoe are withered and dry
Well, there’s no reason to wait till spring flowers appear
So, we should meet up for Christmas. Make it this Christmas
Meet up for Christmas… This year
