"WONDERFUL CHRISTMASTIME" PAUL MCCARTNEY (1979)

So much of the Christmas season, for me, is all about the music. I have no problems with you if you want to start your Christmas celebrations a little early. After Halloween seems excessive. After Thanksgiving is fair game. Then let’s bring on the real Christmas songs and the fake ones, too. I don’t discriminate. From Dec 16-31, it’s all Christmas music playing on Mental Jukebox.

“Wonderful Christmastime” was the song that paved the way for synth-based holiday tracks and the chillwave genre. It has been ubiquitous for several decades now, to the point where it’s easy to forget how ahead of the times this track was when it was first released. There was an irony about it with its monotonous, repetitive nature. The drum machine was accentuated by bells, the synth parts evoked a futuristic North Pole vibe, and McCartney’s vocals were like a Christmas caroling choir at one moment and a grandfather clock at another.

“THE MOON IS RIGHT. THE SPIRITS UP. WE'RE HERE TONIGHT. AND THAT'S ENOUGH.”

"THIS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE" PAUL MCCARTNEY (2005)

One of the most powerful things about music is that it is the soundtrack of our lives. Fellow music fanatic Sharon Hepworth started a music challenge on Twitter for the month of July. Each day, fans around the world will select a song from their life and describe what it means to us. These are my songs. #SoundtrackToYourLife

Day 25

The Beatles are definitely a part of my music journey. But what I can’t explain is, why they were more of a pit stop for me, not the destination. I listened, revered, and then quickly moved on. Perhaps because their larger-than-life pop status labeled them as mainstream, which they were. But I believe Lennon, McCartney, Ringo and Harrison don’t get enough credit for their experimentalism. Their non-hits are some of the most experimental music to come out of that era. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is as conceptual, daring and unexpected as a rock album can get. Of course, The Beatles are more celebrated for their songwriting prowess. Lennon and McCartney, particularly, are wizards with words and melodies. My wife and I stumbled upon McCartney’s “This Never Happened Before” when we saw The Lake House. The movie left much to be desired, but the song was so good we decided to make it our first dance song at our wedding.

“This Never Happened Before” sounds like the song that someone should’ve written years ago, but no one did. Paul McCartney pulled another gorgeous melody and love song out of his heart and into the song. A simple, but poignant concept. A soaring, accessible melody that you can and want to sing along to. It’s the way the words are strung together that make it so warm and so human. It’s straight from the heart, like so many McCartney and Beatles songs before it. In our first dance, we swayed to the music with friends and family surrounding us. And nothing else mattered.

“I love you and now I see. This is the way it should be.”

"WONDERFUL CHRISTMASTIME" PAUL MCCARTNEY (1979)

One of the most original Christmas compositions ever recorded, “Wonderful Christmastime” was the song that paved the way for synth-based holiday tracks and the chillwave genre. It has become such a Christmas classic that it’s easy to forget how ahead of the times it was. There was an irony to the monotonous, soulless vocal delivery of the festive lyrics that somehow seems to get lost in the holiday shuffle whenever it’s played.

“The moon is right. The spirits up. We're here tonight. And that's enough.”