My first, and so far only, holiday song!
A very good friend and former musical partner coined a term I wish I could mean this song about. When I’ve written other songs really quickly in one sitting, they got the term, “two-second songs.” This sadly was not one of those. I initially got both the words and melody for this song at the same time, as that’s how I’ve written 99% of the songs I’ve written, during the 2020 holiday season when we REALLY needed the ideas of this song. But for some reason I STILL don’t understand, it didn’t materialize until early November of 2023.
Although movies and TV shows don’t only show children going above and beyond to help a friend, family member, community member or even a stranger during the holidays, this seems to be the primary time of year it’s most notably on display. I can recall a few movies throughout my childhood that did NOT come out during the holidays that depicted children rising to an occasion, doing something difficult but still worth it, or taking on a special cause they knew mattered to or would benefit the life of someone else. So the question I felt had to be raised in this song was, why is now the only time some adults give themselves the tiniest little bit of permission to let themselves have fun, show more happiness than they deem appropriate or acceptable, and let loose? As says some of the lyrics of this song, “we shouldn’t have to put tinsel out or spread red and green lights about to remind us it’s okay to be a child.” Our innocence didn’t die or go dormant on our 18th birthday, and while there’s a definite standard of how adults should act, those freely, easily imaginative, playful parts of us don’t HAVE to wait until the holidays to make an appearance.
In thinking about this idea, my parents come to mind. They’re too of the most responsible, dependable, reliable, stable individuals I know. I learned from them to do what I say I’ll do and to do what must be done even when I don’t want to, and that’s not only from what they said but what they do and how they do it. When my mother plays with my nieces, I see a tiny glimpse of the child I imagine my mother was, but I wonder how much enjoyment she gives herself. Additionally, when I think of my two grandmothers, I wonder how much fun they let themselves have. As we naturally progress through our lifespan, what’s fun to us obviously changes. But every time I encounter children playing, hear a group of children singing or watch a child give themselves over completely to the fun they’re in the drop-dead center of, I wish my parents and grandmothers would let themselves go into whatever they find fun and allow themselves to freely express that, even if only a little.
Spread throughout the song are special effects my fabulous, creative, talented producer Jack and I had so much fun finding, playing and coming up with. The first is in one of the first few lines of the song where I sing, “feature children’s voices pure and true.” That’s the first of several places where you hear a children’s choir, so keep alert for that as the song progresses.
Then, in the next line, “in movies and on TV shows”, there are two different sounds meant to depict and remind us of some of the sounds we heard 20 to 30 years ago at the beginning of Disney movies. Then, when I sing, “children battle cold and snow”, you hear the sound effect of a howling mountain wind and snow. The sound of snow also shows up again in the final chorus when I sing the line, “but after all the melting of the snow, it’s a good time to dare”, but without the wind.
We also hear from an adult choir in the first two choruses. In the first chorus when I sing the line, “to make us act in more angelic, gentle ways that will show how we care”, it’s literally meant to sound like an angel choir. That comes up again in the second chorus at the line, “to make us act in more angelic, sweeter ways that will show how we care.” It’s not ideally the choir sound I wanted cuz it sounds more orchestral than etherial, but compared to other choirs I’ve heard coming from keyboards, it could be way worse.
I suspect when most adults think of the holidays, one of the first few images they’ll flash back to would be that of children either ripping open presents at lightning speed, building snow angels that turn into rapidly throwing snowballs at each other or at unsuspecting grownups, or standing in an undoubtedly long line of eager, impatient children waiting for their moment with Santa Claus. Perhaps you have memories of helping a parent wrap gifts, sneaking with a sibling into a forbidden room to try to figure out what some gifts contain, baking and frosting cookies with a parent, grandparent or auntie, caroling with family, friends, school or church, your family searching for and cutting down the perfect Christmas tree, going through boxes or containers of ornaments and decorating the Christmas tree while a favorite holiday album plays, or playing a favorite part in a school or church Christmas play. If so, hopefully those memories put a smile on your face and take you back to a simpler time. What I’m trying to explore with this song is why some of that has to end just because you’re no longer a child. Why do the things we label “childish” have to end there, and for that matter, why do things that are and should always be fun need such a label? Why has society decided adults can’t and shouldn’t have fun, and if we do, why has our culture decided we can only show a certain amount and any more than that is “too much” and seen as unnecessary?
I’m NOT at all suggesting we stop doing the things we KNOW will advance our studies, career, healthcare and or family projects. What I’m proposing is to try for a balance between the things we NEED to do and the things we WANT to do. Some may think it would be selfish to find things that make them happy, but it’s actually not. In fact, it’s quite the contrary. A happy you will be more fun to be around, work with and interact with. You KNOW this is true. Think of someone you know, either very well or just casually, who often complains about things, seems depressed, unhappy or melancholy much of the time, and when you think about having to be in close proximity to that person, if only mentally, you groan. You probably don’t wanna be that person to your friends, coworkers, neighbors, community members or family, and giving yourself a little happiness every so often will help you stay out of becoming that. Additionally, perhaps not consciously, but somehow it might also give permission to others to consider setting aside a little time just for themselves.
Childhood should be the season where what we WANT to do wins out, where we don’t have to focus quite as much on what we HAVE to do. For many of us it wasn’t like that. The older we got, the more we hopefully learned to be responsible to do what needs to be done to make the lives we wanted, and it would have been great if we’d learned to keep having fun while still doing the necessary “adulting” things. Even for those who got to have that time in our lives, contrary to what we’re told and what we often see modeled for us, there’s NOTHING wrong with putting a little of what we WANT to do into each day. Ideally, we’d find or create ways to make the things we HAVE to do even a little fun, but if that seems too much like a “When You Wish Upon A Star” holiday fantasy, consider there may very well be simple ways you can put even a few minutes of lightness and joy into each day. There are as many different ways to do this as there are people, so the possibilities are endless, widely varied and as infinite as snowballs.
The concept of the “inner child” may sound a little like psychology to some people, and I certainly can see their point. Yet it’s also very possible part of who you are still lives inside you and may come out when, how and why you least expect it. We can tap into and call upon this part of ourselves to help us access and express the ability to have fun. It may seem hard to believe, but we never actually lost it. Instead, so many of us have buried it, but it’s still there deep down. I wish it wasn’t only during the holidays we’re invited to let that part of us out again, but if it’s been a while since you let yourself dance around the house WITHOUT caring what you look like, get visibly excited or let out an angry scream in the car when you’re all alone, this time of year is as good a time as any to dare to have some fun!