PSRSotwNotes03.12-19

Peter's Song of the Week Club!

12/19/03

Merry Christmas

Peter's Comments:
This one came out better than I thought it would, which is to say that I thought it was going to be really really really bad. The lyrics got some last-minute improvements that helped make it funnier (e. g., the phrase "Bailey's and antifreeze"), and the acoustic-pickup lines came out sounding better than they had any right to.

Other parts of this were disappointing. I couldn't write a harmony part on this one to save my life. And the lyrics, while kind of funny, are utterly divorced from my experience and just didn't rhyme or meter like I wanted them to. The guitar 'solo' section towards the end came out pretty vapid, and I couldn't seem to fix it. And I'm sure I've stolen the verse melody from somewhere, but then again, I always suspect that.

SongFight reviews:

almightyjimbob:
this song's ok. I dunno... kinda bores me. perhaps it's just the "not my thing" thing again. you have some nice chord changes though.

jack shite:
the vocals kind of overpower the mix. the drums and bass aren't even noticable until the vox drop out. pretty cool and fun song though

abecedarian:
Break stuff!

Ogreasy:
I like it, though no one else would..cool.

VinylBoy:
I keep thinking you sound like Frankie Big Face.

RoS:
cool chords. nice effects at 1:20. you should try to make the vocal double tighter, or don't double at all. good melodies. second listen leaves me wanting more percussion.

Dtractor:
It's O.K. The chorus could be stronger.

Jim of Seattle:
No specific complaint, but didn't do a lot for me. The overheated rhythm guitar in the right speaker wore down my ears after a short time. 1

Yaruss:
Good one -- it's a good song. And well executed. Those drums could definitely be louder. It's well done.

Josh Woodward:
Very cool, this has a nice feel. My leg's moving despite the lack of strong percussion. The vox could use a bit more treble. Nice.

The UnDesirable:
I like the chord progression and your lyrics. I think going bigger with the instrumentation could real make this song great.

Footnotes

1 Jim had this to say about the entire fight (and it surely applies to me):
I was put off by all the Christmas negativity. It's too easy to write a song about simply hating Christmas, and there was too much knee-jerk iconoclasm. I kept hearing things like "Merry Fucking Christmas" over & over, and every time it sort of sounded like the person singing it thought he was the only one who thought that way and "ooh, isn't it shocking!" "I don't like George Bailey! Oooh!". I wish people had dug a little deeper, is all. I think when a person grows up, they enter this Christmas no-man's-land where they are very anti-Christmas. Maybe it's rebellion from childhood or whatever. I was there. Then when I had my own kid, suddenly Christmas became fun and cool again. Too many of these songs are inspired by being in Christmas no-man's-land.