It seems to me that It was September just a couple of weeks ago. But no, it’s December already. This year has flown by, faster than any before. At the same time, it feels like a decade has passed since January. I guess the less said about this past year, the better. [Sigh] OK, well, what can I say. So, this time, I’ve produced one of the most un-twisted Christmas song interpretations I’ve produced so far. Really. UN-twisted. I might be in violation of truth in advertising laws. Not that I didn’t try. Just none of the twists worked for me. The only thing that made any sense to me was to stretch the time a little. That’s all. No changing the mode.
Personally, it’s been a year with a focus on recording, filming, and releasing new original music every month. Ok, so I did cheat a little, and one month I released a 35 year old song. But it was original, and a new recording. But I made it. A new, original song every month for a year. Starting with last year’s Twisted Christmas song. Actually, it started with the release of eight loop-based songs, to pre-populate my YouTube channel. I refer to them as The Stones, as they all have “Stone” in the name. Building Stone, Made in Stone, Hot Stone, Not Set in Stone… All have “Stone” in the name. They were a series of experiments, to see what I could do with loops. Some are more loopy than others. And then followed by twelve monthly original songs. Some serious, some silly. So, twenty original songs released in just over a year. And I still have another half-dozen at various points of production. A couple of these, the music is complete, but haven’t been filmed yet. The rest all need some parts to be recorded before they can be mixed. So, I’m not done yet. But I am going to relax the release schedule. Things will be released when I get them to that point. But I’m not going to keep to a monthly schedule. At least for now. And this year, I’m returning to form, as far as Twisted Christmas is concerned. This year, one traditional Christmas song was speaking to me. It needed to be twisted. See, I’ve always heard about how this time of year is a popular time for suicides. It seems that depression hits particularly hard during the holiday season. And this year is likely no exception. Considering how much gnashing of teeth I’ve seen over the past month. It could be a problem. So, if you know of someone who you think could be at risk, reach out. Let them know that they are not alone. And that things can get better. If they just give it a little time. Anyways, here’s this year’s Twisted Christmas song…
When it came time to sit down and think about what song to twist up for this year’s rendition, nothing seemed appropriate.
Maybe it’s because I’m too much of a news junkie.
Maybe it’s because I was already in a mental state of wondering how many more of these I wanted to continue creating.
As those that remember last year’s contribution can attest to.
Maybe my mind was spending too many cycles contemplating life in the various war zones around the world.
And this was well before the latest round of the conflict in Gaza started.
So, I started ruminating on the Christmas incident during World War 1 where an unofficial truce took place, with the opposing forces coming out of their trenches to celebrate with their counterparts on the other side.
Just for one day.
An incident memorialized in the movie Joyeux Noel.
And so, I decided to do something different this year.
What resulted is an original composition.
One that is dark and turbulent.
One that decries warfare, and the wanton destruction that it causes.
The waste of life.
The uncaring of the political leaders that cause it to begin with.
To paraphrase Carl von Clausewitz, war is politics by other means.
And there seems to be no shortage of it.
I guess everywhere, there are politicians with egos to feed.
All I can say is, God help us if by some means, this song manages to become canon for the holiday season.
And for parents with young children, some of the imagery in the video might be disturbing, so best to screen it before letting the kids see it.
So, without further ado, this year’s Twisted Christmas song is…
After all, I had just walked into his shop, looked around at the various Ouds that he had on display, ignoring the rest of his merchandise, pointed to the one he had hanging in the entryway, and asked if I could take a closer look at it.
Not exactly a typical tourist, looking for a souvenir to take home.
See, it was my last day in Amman, the capital of Jordan.
