After yesterday’s assault on your eardrums I thought I’d go into more reflective mode today. There will be two songs I haven’t shared before – although I have previously featured both artists – and a double bonus at the end.

This first one is about the loneliness some people feel at Christmas, especially if life isn’t working out the way they hoped or planned. I think it is a beautiful song, and the video is superb:

Each year from 2006 to 2016 The Killers released a Christmas song to raise money for the Product Red charity, whose aim is to help increase awareness and reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in eight African countries. These were combined into an album, Don’t Waste Your Wishes, in 2016. Many of these singles made the lower reaches of the UK charts – more than they did in the US, in fact. This one got to #92 in the UK, presumably a low placing in the face of too much competition from the usual re-released dross that fills the charts at this time of year. I have previously shared the more upbeat song they put out in 2011, The Cowboy’s Christmas Ball, but I have always felt that this one, the 2013 offering, is the best of the bunch. The video stars Owen Wilson, in the role of a struggling actor, with Harry Dean Stanton being heard as the ‘voice of reason.’ The song was written by the band in collaboration with Taylor Goldsmith, of the band Dawes, and Irving Berlin gets a writing credit too, for the inclusion of some of the lyrics from a little number called White Christmas. If you know the music of Dawes you will recognise how much of an influence Taylor had in this: in all honesty, this could really be a Dawes song, as it is so typical of their style. It is a beautiful song, performed wonderfully, all brought together by a video which is a perfect fit.

I’m staying in mellow mode for today’s second song. As you will see from the image on the audio only ‘video,’ this was an album track:

Shawn Colvin has long been a favourite of mine, as I have said when sharing her songs previously. Her Holiday Songs And Lullabies album was released in October 1998, and peaked at #181 in the US albums chart – it didn’t chart here. It is a collection of songs she wrote, like this one, plus her versions of other Christmas songs and Carols. This one wasn’t on the original release, but made its way into a later ‘expanded’ version. The whole album has a relaxed, laid back feel to it, perfect for playing to accompany a glass or two of mulled wine.

I promised you a bonus video for today, didn’t I? I did think about continuing my selection of comedy tunes but felt it wouldn’t have been a good fit for today’s music. However, I am due to give you the next episode in the saga of Hafod Hardware’s Christmas ads. This is the third of their four, released in 2019 – it is the one which brought them to national and international attention, and made a star of little Arthur Lewis Jones, aged 2:

I still can’t watch that without a tear forming. Everything about it is perfection: the story that revolves around Arthur helping his grandparents in their shop, the clever way he morphs into his dad, Tom, at the end, and how Tom imitates Arthur’s 👍 greeting, all topped off by Andrea Von Kampen‘s beautiful version of the Alphaville song, Forever Young, which underpins the whole message. Trying, and failing, to copy a good idea the song was also used the following year by McDonalds in their Christmas advert: proving yet again that there is no justice, the incredibly inferior version they used, by Becky Hill, a reality tv show winner, made it to #35 in the UK singles chart. I defy anyone to listen to both versions and not prefer Andrea’s!

I promised you a double bonus, didn’t I? To complement the Hafod Hardware ad, I thought I’d also share this short video they uploaded earlier today. It gives a ‘behind the scenes’ view of last week’s visit to the shop by Prince Charles, and I think it adds to the mellow feeling I’m hoping to have brought you today:

I think that is lovely, and it is nice that they used as the backing track a song by, who else, Andrea Von Kampen. The song is Old Fashioned Holiday, Andrea’s Christmas single for this year, which was released last month.

That’s all for today. Time for a picture, I think:

See you tomorrow 🎍