A Christmas Song
All I Want For Christmas
by Shannon Callahan & The Blackbird
[Click HERE for the Video.]
It was eight years ago now that my dear friend Shannon brought me this Christmas song, which she had started, and asked if we could finish it up together before the holidays. We both were looking for something that celebrated the meaningful aspects of the holiday, and so we set to work.
We premiered the song, with our friend Therese Pitt singing the third voice, at our Christmas Party which my wife, Anna, and I have every year, and it really did capture the spirit we sought, and expressed what we hoped it would about the holiday.
The following year, I recorded and released it, but as often happens with me and my projects, this song was still not quite finished with me. The year after, I decided I wanted to do a video for it, very much in the same spirit of the holiday, and to make it a family project. Luckily for us, our son Arseny is a talented videographer and a professional YouTuber. (You can find his great food channel HERE.)
The team was great, Arseny was lord master of the project wearing many hats: creative producer, director, lighting designer, camera, storyboarding... He and his colleague Eypee Kaamiño did all the video work together, and Eypee did the film editing. (Eypee on YouTube HERE). Anna, who is in charge of the turkey in the video, found us a wonderful location for the shoot and was in charge of gathering all the bits & bobs, props & food, and Arseny and I shaped the video’s story loosely based on our Christmas Parties. We invited many of our usual guests, friends and colleagues who volunteered their time and talents, and brought in other people I know from our circle. Thanks also go to Katrin for doing our make-up, and our friend Bettina can also be found on YouTube HERE. It was great fun and a memorable experience for us all. Some of their family members joined, including Shannon’s in-laws with her new baby. What we didn’t know at this point was that Shannon was pregnant with her second child as we were filming! (Another family project!)
It’s great fun for us to revisit the video, and have this little window into our past. These days, Ruben, the Star Child, is almost a teenager, Shannon’s family has grown, I may have a few more gray hairs in my beard, due solely to collected wisdom, of course, and each of us have many more stories in our lives. Happily, the friendships go on.
I’m proud enough of this piece to remind everyone about it every year. Please feel free to share it as you like. Think of it as our gift to you all. I hope you enjoy the song and spend a few minutes with the idea and spirit of it this holiday season! Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!
All I Want For Christmas
All I want for Christmas, all I want for Christmas all I want for Christmas is love.
You can keep you fancy packages- things, I got enough all I want for Christmas is love
and if I had another wish, it'd be for you and me to live to see peace on earth from sea to shining sea
every mother's child, every shade of skin every land, let the love shine in
All I want for Christmas, all I want for Christmas all I want for Christmas is love.
You can keep you fancy packages- things, I have enough all I want for Christmas is love
Take away the blindness that makes it hard to see that what I do to others will surely be done to me
and if you do me wrong, let me rise above and find a way to answer you with love sweet love
All I want for Christmas, all I want for Christmas all I want for Christmas is love.
You can keep you fancy packages- things, I got enough all I want for Christmas is love
All I want for Christmas, all I want for Christmas all I want for Christmas is love.
You can keep you fancy packages- things, I got enough all I want for Christmas is love
***
Shannon Callahan: Voice * The Blackbird: Ac. Guitar, Dobro, Voice * Therese Pitt: Voice
Music & Text by Shannon Callahan & The Blackbird * Mixed and Mastered by Tom Lynn
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