A very tolerable Christmas, with All Songs Considered 2024
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Alright man, do we have everything squared away for this party? Have you confirmed the caterer? I did. I called the caterer. I actually got a drink caterer this year for like coffees and drinks and espresso. No need for your infamous eggnog this year. Alright. I cleaned my bathtub and everything. I took the notes from last year. You said next year, clean the bathtub.

My eggnog is pure and on point, but fine. Beverage caterer, great, whatever. It's really coming down out there. I got, hold on a second, I got an alert. Oh no, look. I guess we should cancel the car. ♪ Christmas, Christmas time is near ♪ ♪ Time for toys and time for cheer ♪ ♪ I can't last ♪ ♪ Christmashurst ♪

Well, let's just head back to the tiny desk area because everyone else, you know, they should still be there. Yeah, they're probably still freaking out. Yeah. We're also gonna need to, we're gonna have to call a ton of people now and let them know the party's not happening.

Boy, Robin, where is everybody? That show ended like two minutes ago. Where is everybody? Very weird. Hello? This is... It's so weird. God, when there's not a tiny desk, it is eerie in here. Well, I guess we should just get comfortable. Man, this is great. I mean, it's pretty. Like, snowing outside, looking out the windows, it's great, but...

I don't know, man. Empty office, Robin Hilton. Well, we don't have to spend it here at all these desks and everything. Here, give me a hand. See the latch there on the left side of the bookcase there behind the desk? Yeah, what? Yeah, just flip that. Like that switch? Yeah, the little hook. Just unhook that. Oh, okay. And just grab hold of that left side of the shelf and pull it with me. Are these going to come down? No, just... It slides. Just move it.

What is this? You don't know about this? Robin, I...

I was involved in some of the planning for the remodeling of this building. Nobody ever said anything about a room behind the tiny desk. Oh, this has been here just about since the beginning. It's sort of like, I don't know what you call it, maybe like a panic room. I cannot tell you how many tiny desks I have listened to while...

being behind the shelves sitting in this room. I could have been crying in here the entire time. Oh, I have. Many, many times. We've got a sign-up sheet for it if you want to, you know, reserve a time. But, um, let me get the lights here. We've got, uh, we've got these dual recliners. We've got a little... Look at the size of that TV! Oh, we just had that put in. Uh, we actually, no fireplace, but, uh, check this out.

Kind of set the atmosphere here for us. Get us in the little spirit of the season. Why did no one tell me about that? I guess we were afraid you'd just actually use it. Yeah, and a bunch of people on the music team came in and they decorated it. We've got the tinsel and the tree and yeah. You know what could have made this even more festive? One more hand helping you decorate it. For example, you could have told me.

You know, that's sort of a too many cooks in the kitchen, I think, is that kind of deal there is what you're thinking of. Can I use it now? You know, I don't know what the union rules are around this. Maybe we could put you on like a waiver for just today and, you know, special kind of deal here. But, you know, really what we need to do is we need to start calling people and let them know it's been canceled because people are going to be heading to the cabin. Yeah. I hadn't even thought about that. Yeah. Got a list here. Let's see. It's a very long list.

Oh my god, look at this list. Are we calling every single one of these people? Eh, we can skip some of them. Sting never comes, man. Well, that's not true. He was there last year, but we can skip him. Who else? Sabrina, we can skip her.

I don't think she's got a thing. Oh, you know what? Let's call Maddie. We absolutely need to let Maddie know. Oh my God, yeah. I do not want to inconvenience. Maddie Diaz put out one of my favorite records of the year and one of my favorite Christmas songs. I'm not leaving her in the lurch. Let's get rid of her. Hello? Hey Maddie, it's Robin and Steven. Hey, what's up guys? Hey Maddie, I hate to be the bearer of bad news. The big Christmas

Christmas party's been canceled. Really? Are you sure? Really? Are the roads that bad? Oh my God, we are not going anywhere. We are socked into the office. It's absolutely... Did you not hear about the storm coming? It is absolutely bonkers out there. It's just, it's blowing in sideways. Oh my God, really? Yeah, we're in for like the saddest Christmas ever. Stuck with Robin, who is basically a lump of coal in the shape of a man. Shape of a man.

Well, Steven and I were just talking before we called you about how much we love your album Weird Faith and your song God Person, for me anyway, song of the year. The song of the year? I cannot tell you how many times I've ugly cried to that song. It is just so devastating. I mean, it's really beautiful, but just just hits me so hard. Oh, dude, I just I'm so glad it does. It's just it's so cathartic.

It was a bit of an outlier. I wasn't sure if I wanted to put it on the record because it feels complicated and

I don't want to step on anybody. You're going through something complicated with your faith, like I don't want to just kind of like, you know, spew mine or my spirituality or whatever, whatever it is that I'm working with. I have to say, like now you've got this new holiday song, "Kid on Christmas," and it feels, it feels like it's of a piece with the record. Yeah, I mean, I kind of came to that song, I was feeling like super nostalgic. I was up in the Northeast, like writing and recording with some friends and like,

I would like wake up in the morning and kind of like mess around on the piano and I kept saying kid on Christmas and I was like, why? Why? Why in like July, August? Like, why is this happening? But I kind of just went with it and yeah, when I got home was same thing, just hanging out with a couple friends and we were just trying to

talk about what was hard and what was good and the centerpiece focusing things on like what we want to try to bring forward every year, especially this year, especially this year. So much yearning and searching and hope. Yeah, well, it's like trying to walk a well-worn path differently, you know, and like, and try to, um,

still find the sparkle in, you know, like taking the same back roads to your parents' house, you know, and just, you know, catch some sort of like 15-year-old high school sparkle, you know, when the snow comes down or like, you know, your eight-year-old like out there with the flying saucer. Like I have to go get the flying saucer disc from Home Depot and I have to go to the golf course when it snows. Like I have to do it because...

you know, like my body hurts because I'm 38. But like, I know I have to, you know what I mean? Like, I know I have to do it because like my heart wants to do it and that's how to try to, how do we do it? Yeah. And it just, it touches on so many of my favorite things about my favorite Christmas music. Like if, if your Christmas song is telling me to be happy, I hate it.

Yeah. Like, like, like I will automatically reflexively reject any song that tells me to be happy. Don't tell me what to do, man. Don't tell me what to do, man. Like suddenly I become this fists up contrarian, but like a song that is capturing kind of the swirl of melancholic emotions around Christmas that makes me enjoy and appreciate Christmas. And for me, this song just leaps right to,

to, you know, right to the top of my, of just a bunch of my favorite holiday songs because it's complex. Thanks so much. You guys, this is a true joy. Thank you. Thank you, Maddie. And again, sorry about the party. I hope you make it out of that, out of that tight spot there. We'll be fine. We'll put on kid on Christmas. Thanks guys. Bye. Bye.

I don't know why I don't feel it Something about this time is different I'm gonna buy up all the lights And every color they have Never talk to my name Hate to ask when I need a favor But all the hardware stores are closed And something happens when it snows

♪ I think I could feel like a kid on Christmas ♪ ♪ Looking out the window on time ♪ ♪ These days I don't have to miss day ♪ ♪ Something 'bout the way this year went ♪ ♪ I wish I could just feel like a kid on Christmas ♪

So what if I lost my religion? I still left my light of plastic Jesus I put him on the fireplace I leave him plugged in all night So what if it's a fire hazard? What if I have to work it out backwards? Go back home for the holidays

shooting whiskey in the driveway i think i could feel like a kid on christmas looking at the wind these days i don't have to miss it something about the way this year i wish i could just feel like a

♪ Waking up at 5 a.m. before the winter sun is coming in ♪ ♪ Is it just a stupid wish or could I ever get it? ♪ ♪ I think I could feel like a kid ♪

On Christmas Looking at the wind All right On these days I don't have Optimistic Something about the way this I wish I could just feel like a kid on Christmas

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Well, let's see what we have to drink around here. I'm not sure if we have any eggnog. Look in the refrigerator here. Yeah, this room seems pretty well stocked with...

but like, are there any refreshments? Yeah, we usually keep something in here. Just give me some... You know what's funny is, basically it's all booze. For all the... Maybe people don't know this, but some of the artists, not all of us, some of the artists who come in for Tiny Desks, maybe they need a little shot of courage. Sure. Just before the set, we like to keep some... We can do... We can take a little...

A little light pour. A little... A little... Two fingers. A little tipple. A little tipple here or something. Cheers. Cheers, buddy. Let's see. Who else is on the list here that we should call? Do you want to call Bartiz Strange? Oh, yeah. We should totally call him because he might be in the DC area and maybe he already knows. Yeah, let's give him a call. Bartiz, are you there? Oh, no. What's wrong? I know. Wait, wait.

You don't- you never want to get a phone call from us, right? You immediately assume something's- As soon as the phone rings and it's us, it's "What's wrong?" Well, it actually is some bad news. Maybe you already know the storm that's blowing into DC. We're not gonna- we're stuck here at the office. The party's been canceled. We're not gonna make it. Oh my god, well, you know, there is a silver lining. We don't have to hang out with Steven.

Oh my gosh, shots fired. Bart, he's strange. You don't have to spend the holidays with Steven, but we're stuck here at the office. We're not going anywhere. No, it's all good.

You know, even though you just, I don't know, destroyed me, I did want to talk to you about your new holiday song, which I love. It's called Xmas. Yeah. Felt a little unexpected. I wasn't expecting you to do a Christmas song. It's such a, you know, it's kind of a hard space to step into. What inspired you to make this song?

I mean, I think for a lot of people holidays are not always like the most fun thing in the world. And you know, this song is kind of like, yeah, it's Christmas, but you know, I don't really feel like everything's working out for me. And I'm also kind of laying out like, and this is why I think that things aren't working out for me. It's because of my choices. Steven can identify, I think with that.

Also, it's so hard to write a Christmas song, you know, like yeah, I've kind of stared at it for like two months and normally I can kind of get ideas out, you know, like oh here's an idea. Here's one Let's try this, you know But with this one I did everything I could think of to make like a bangin Mariah Carey Christmas song like a super up right theory I love everybody vibe but the only thing I could come up with is this like a

you know, it sounds happy, but it's kind of sad. And to me, that is the best thing a Christmas song can do. If you can undercut the fake cheer of the holidays, if you can undercut this message that we're all obligated to be happy and joyful at all times, that's my kind of Christmas music. That's the Christmas music that I can really play around with. This is becoming a theme for you this year. No.

No fun, no joy. It's not no fun. Stephen Thompson Christmas. It's not no fun, no joy. It's just leave space for a range of emotions. Yeah. And I mean, my favorite thing about Christmas songs is like the sadness of it, you know, or how sad a song can sound. Like, I've always thought that like Silent Night is a good example of that where it's like, it's like a dirge almost. Yeah.

You know, I did my best. These songs, you know, Christmas songs are hard to do. Also, dude, it's like, as I was writing it, I was like, I should probably just do this every year because, like, if you have one of these suckers hit, like, you're good for it. So I was like, maybe I'll just try. Yeah. No, I mean, you get a good Christmas hit, you can eat lunch off that for the rest of your life. Can you imagine if you wrote All I Want for Christmas Is You, you would live on a mega yacht and never work again. Done. Done.

what are you so do you like christmas like do you get into the holidays what do you what do you what do you normally do this time of year my family doesn't really do traditions because we can't plan for the life of us so we just kind of end up at someone's house when we were kids obviously we did the classic christmas thing but now that we're all grown-ups it's like

whose house are we going to? Once the gavel drops on that, that's what it'll be. Who can we burden this year so that we don't have to do any of it ourselves? Happy holidays, Bartiz. Sorry we're going to miss you. Yeah, happy holidays. Oh, you too. Have a very tolerable and hopefully not too expensive Christmas. Yeah, it's Christmas. Put on the head up.

Yeah, it's Christmas.

Christmas, I know the words.

He has such an interesting sound. I love everything he does. It's such a unique personal stamp on Take on Christmas. It's perfect. Exactly. It sounds like a Christmas song, but it also sounds like a Bartiz Strange song. And I know that may sound like, duh, obvious, but it really is one of the best things that a Christmas song can do is you still want it to convey what the artist does and not just slip seamlessly into this canon that sounds like everything else. Yeah, yeah.

Well, listen, I know we said no gifts this year, but I couldn't help myself. I got you a little something. I was going to give it to you at the cabin, but since we're stuck here, you might as well have it now. Oh, buddy. What even is this? That's so thoughtful. Oh, my...

God, Robin! Yeah, right? Robin, how long did it take you to put this together? Well, it's a Green Bay Packers jersey. I know, I... You know what all those names are, right? I mean, I'm just reacting. You had it custom made with my name on the back, like as if I'd played for the Packers. But all these signatures. Is that Adele? Yeah. Is this everybody who's...

ever played the tiny desk? Everyone. Since 2008? Yeah, over 1,700 artists on there. It took me all year long. I started thinking about this after last Christmas and I was like, what would Steven really love? Because I want you to know that

I see you, and I'm listening, I'm paying attention, I know what you love, and I kind of just put them all together here. You said you thought of this last year. You thought of this in 2008. This is everybody. No, no. I had to track them back down. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Look, I...

I mean, I know you said, you know, we said no gifts and everything. And I was also, you know, planning a little something. But I had all these plans. Like, we were going to get to the airport. And they've got Hudson News. And they sell shot glasses and magnets and stuff. Like, at BWI, they've got, like, ones that have, like, the state of Maryland, like, kind of imprinted on them. And so I was thinking, like...

either a collectible spoon or maybe a thimble or a shot glass or something. So consider this kind of like an IOU for the next time we're in an airport at a Hudson News. I got you covered, man. This is so... Oh, my God, this jersey is incredible. Well, yeah, I mean...

you know i'm sure it is just the thought that counts and just knowing knowing that i had generated in this moment the thought to eventually purchase for you a gift at hudson news is also yes there's also a lot of thought there i'm really feeling the spirit of the season now it's really well listen we got a long list to get through so let's let's see who else is here oh marie we need to call marie oh from girl in red yeah

Hello? Hey, Marie, this is Steven. Hey, man, what's up? Well, I'm so sorry. I'm here with Robin Hilton. We've got... I'm so sorry I'm here with Robin Hilton. I'm so sorry to be here with Robin Hilton. No, I mean, I'm sorry to say we've got bad news. The big party, we're snowed in. It got canceled. Okay, honestly, I'm kind of relieved because I was double booked, man. Oh, what are you doing? I was going on a yacht. Going on a yacht?

What yacht? No, I don't even know. Someone else booked it. It was a surprise for me, but I was told I needed to hold a date, and then I was like, wait, I have to be somewhere else. But now I'm kind of relieved. That's fair. I mean, we can't compete with a yacht. I mean, I'll be honest, not going places or doing things is one of my favorite things to do. Oh, the best. Yeah. Love doing nothing. I get it. Well, I know you're doing the yacht and everything, but what do you usually do for the holidays?

I normally spend my Christmas with my mom and my family. And yeah, my mom loves decorating the Christmas tree, so I love to help her out making it look like a Disney Christmas tree. So that's just what I do. I just chill just like everyone else should. And honestly, we should have more time off. People should have, we should double Christmas. That's my hot take.

You've had first Christmas. That's right. Now let's have second Christmas. You know, my children are children of divorce. And I launched in my family a second holiday called Christmas II Santa's Revenge. And it's where Santa doubles back and hits all the houses of the children of divorced parents.

And your kids bought that? Eventually, like they helped develop all this lore around it because we usually celebrated it like the day after New Year's. And my son came up with the idea that Dick Clark's ghost decides who's been naughty or nice. Of course. You know, as one's child would decide. If I were really doing this like NPR, I'd make a quick aside here. Dick Clark was the host of American Bandstand. It's been years since...

But I know all that's an aside. How have you been? How's this December been for you? Honestly, I'm a little bit sad that I've been touring this entire December because I really... I mean, some of the best part of Christmas for me is just everything leading up to it. The day goes by and then you're like, oh, I mean, that was it, kind of. But I feel like I'm missing out on the pre-Christmas stuff in Norway. So therefore, I went to CVS and I bought...

So I think I spent over $100 on just like Christmas stockings and Christmas lights and stuff while the boys in my band were in the venue and they were like, "Where are you, Maureen?" I was like, "Just in the bus. I just gotta be by myself." Then they all came in at night and I bought Christmas calendars for everyone and I made the bus real nice. And then I set the bus lights real nice too.

- Oh man, Christmas is a journey. I get it. Do you have a favorite holiday song? - I mean, I'm like a big sucker for like Last Christmas by Wham. Like who isn't? - Robin is sitting next to me and what he is not telling you is he, Robin Hilton hates the song Last Christmas. - So much. - More than not only maybe any song, but any thing.

Robin, you're missing out on so much joy. It's insane. Gotta disagree, but...

Honestly, Marie, I'd much rather hear the holiday song you did, Two Queens in a King-Sized Bed. It really is the spirit of the holidays. It really is. It's the perfect holiday song. Yeah, it really is. And happy holidays, Marie. Happy holidays. I hope no one's fighting during the Christmas dinner for everyone or happy whatever you celebrate, you know? Well, it's just the two of us, though. There probably will be some fighting. There will be fighting. Along the way here. Two queens in a king-sized bed.

There's no mistletoe above our heads But I'll kiss you anyway on Christmas day Yeah, I'll kiss you anyway on Christmas day Don't have a heart to give, oh everything My time is yours to spend with my skin Two queens in a king size

My time is yours to spend

With my skin Two queens in the king's side There's no mistletoe above our heads But I'll kiss you anyway on Christmas day Yeah, I'll kiss you anyway on Christmas day

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Well, Stephen, what's the deal with you this year? You seem like, I don't know, I don't want to say anti-Christmas, but yeah, you just seem like you keep talking about how you don't like the fake joy or like, why is it fake? How come it's not just joy? Oh my God. I mean, first of all, you can tell when a song is faking it.

You can tell when a song is kind of shouting at you through a megaphone to be glad. And there's just some... Manifest, Steven, manifest. You know, I understand. And I think there are people for whom that works. And I don't want to yuck anybody's yum. But, you know, if listening to extremely 100% all cheerful music actually makes you happy, go have a blast. That's great. For me, I found, especially last year, and I really made note of it last year,

that there was a certain strain of Christmas song that just deeply bummed me out. It was never the dirges. It was never the sad songs that bummed me out. It was always Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee. What about Happy Holidays? Happy Holidays. That song at this point is just trying to sell me something. Jingle Bells? That is just the ambient sound of commercials.

Deck the halls? Deck the halls, I don't know. I don't want to necessarily go point by point and be like, no, this song should be abolished. But I think any song like, it's the most wonderful time. Oh, come on, that's a classic. It's

Andy Williams, man, did we lose a war? All of a sudden Perry Como is on the charts and it's like, that song wasn't cool 60 years ago. I don't want to be like a Christmas Grinch though. I love the holidays. I love Christmas music. And I love... Well, what's an example? What's a song that checks all the boxes that you need checked? Okay, so this holiday season I've been putting together a playlist.

called "A Very Tolerable Christmas." And it is just all of the holiday music that

fit the spirit of the season for me. Honestly, I think at this point my favorite Christmas song is called All That I Want by the Weepies. And I don't know how, are you familiar with the Weepies? Yeah, I know the Weepies. Yeah, they've been around for a long time, put out a bunch of records. They made this song in 2003 called All That I Want that manages to sum up everything I love about Christmas. This, to me, is the platonic ideal of a Christmas song. Oh!

The ships come and it's Christmas time The kids all holler Carols cross the water Stars that shine All that I want All that I want Up above the The full moon dips its golden spoon I wait on clear clouds Near my place

All that I want, I want When the night is falling down the sky at midnight Another year is stuck at night And all that I want, all that I want, I want So small a turn The world grows older An ache of yearning So often we want

the cold winds blow snow drifts through the pine trees likewise in your eyes that find me here with all that i want all that i want

the ships come and it's christmas time it's christmas time it's christmas time i mean i can't take any issue with that i mean it's such a sweet song i love their voices it's a great song but i i have to be honest

I do like the classic canon of Christmas songs as performed by Bing Crosby. You'll notice I did not assail Bing Crosby's talent. Right. Well, there are so many...

amazing jazz artists. Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, just so many great jazz classic versions of those songs. But are those getting played on nostalgic Christmas radio stations? Are you hearing those songs? You hear some. You hear Nat King Cole, you'll hear one song by each of those people, but you're also getting a lot of kitsch and junk. I think what you're hearing is Last Christmas by Wham, and that I'm not down with. I think you underrate that song.

But I am very nostalgic. I'm a very sentimental person and I want songs that are going to take me back to a very specific time and place, right? And that's what those songs do. But if I had to pick a newer artist,

and a newer song, I would go with Sufjan Stevens and his, you know that double album, more than a double album. Yeah, Silver and Gold that he put out a handful of years ago. It's got some of the standards on there, including a nine minute version of Do You Hear What I Hear? But he also, he does all these new originals and I thought one that would be appropriate for sort of how we're spending Christmas together this year is one called Christmas in the Room.

No travel plans, no shopping malls No candy canes, no Santa Claus For as the day of rest draws near It's just the two of us this year No silver bells or mistletoe We'll kiss and watch our tea

No traffic jams no ice and storm far is

The fire is warm, no Christmas tree, no grate. It's just an old day, nobody's planned, no place to go. It's just the two of us alone in the house. We see a light that comes from inside out.

I'll sing to you like it's Christmas in the room. I'll dance with you, I'll dance with you, till it's Christmas in the room. Till it's Christmas in the room. Oh, I can see the day when we'll die, but I don't care to think about it.

No gifts to give their own. Inside our hearts the glorious cheer. And the house we see that comes from what?

♪ I'll go to you, I'll sing to you ♪ ♪ Like it's Christmas in the room ♪ ♪ I'll dance with you, I'll laugh with you ♪ ♪ Till it's Christmas in the room ♪ ♪ I'll go to you, I'll sing to you ♪ ♪ Like it's Christmas in the room ♪

I don't know, this is kind of us at Christmas this year, minus the, you know, making out while watching TV part. Although I think, you know, anyone who listens to this show knows there's been a real sort of will they, won't they? Absolutely. And look, we're stuck in the building. The night is young.

So should we just stop talking and just spend the next half hour just listening to that album in its entirety? I would be totally down with that, but we actually got a whole, we still have a whole bunch of artists to call. Let's see who else is on the list here. Oh, John, we should call John. John C. Reilly. We need to give him a call. You know, he just did that little special on Netflix. Yeah, an almost Christmas story. It was sort of that animated show. Let's give him a call though.

hey john it's robin and steven oh hey guys looking forward to the party oh yeah about that so john i'm so sorry to be the bearer of bad news the party's been cancelled oh man can't do some kind of zoom cocktail party or something zoom cut that john that's a terrible idea we're not doing a zoom cocktail be so depressing we tried that one year no it's totally depressing just cancel the party

It is totally depressing, especially since, I mean, honestly, we were really looking forward to hearing more about this whole special that you did. It is so sweet. The animated short film, An Almost Christmas Story, that was based on a true story, wasn't it? Yeah, at first there was this real thing that happened. A little owl got trapped inside of the Christmas tree that they cut down from Rockefeller Center.

And then when they opened the tree up in New York, they discovered this wounded little owl in there. So that's how the story began. And then Alfonso Cuarón was inspired by that story. And he's been doing these short films, these holiday short films. And this is the third in the series. And he handed it over to David Lowery, which is a director that I've always wanted to work with.

And when I read it, I saw the similarities between this amazing stop-motion animation film that I loved as a kid, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and I thought, well, here's my chance to be Burl Ives, you know?

It's so funny you say that because I was actually thinking the same thing as I was watching it. I thought this has that sort of classic feel of those stop motion shows, you know, like Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. And I wondered if you'd grown up watching those. Yeah, I totally grew up watching those. And I grew up listening to Burl Ives over the years. And he's taught me so much music and so much traditional folk music.

But I thought, wouldn't it be cool if I could pass on a couple of things to people? I mean, I'm no Burl Ives, but I'm alive. You do have that going for you. It's one distinct advantage. So, yeah, it was really intentional when we were making the film, when David and I were working together recording it. I really wanted to bring that. He was really into it, too. In fact, the character was originally supposed to just kind of sing.

these different songs throughout and create like these motifs for the film. But I thought, you know, don't you want a little bit of wrap around here, like a little narrator stuff? And he was like, totally, totally. So we kind of came up with a lot of the dialogue and the stuff that I say

on the fly there in the studio. So that's how I got involved in it, you know, and I also thought this is a great thing to just put out into the world, you know, a story about taking care of the vulnerable in your world and meditating about what these winter months are really all about and why Christmas exists in the first place. I mean, I think about Christmas and I think, you know, it was primarily started, of course, as a religious holiday, but almost everyone I know, regardless of their religion or not,

celebrates Christmas in some way. So it feels kind of like this ancient thing that we do in the wintertime. We gather closer together, we light a candle, we try to believe that this darkness will eventually lift and spring will come. And I think that's something really universal and really human. So we made a little short film about it. Yeah, I think universal and human is such a great...

way to approach the holiday, no matter what your religious traditions are. You know, if you're just telling a story that finds some commonality across people and just brings people together and kind of creates new traditions, I just think that's

That's a really beautiful thing you did. Well, thank you very much. You know, Daniel Hart, the composer, pulled off an amazing feat, which is he wrote two new Christmas songs. And I was really skeptical actually going in. I thought, I don't know, man, what is this going to be? If it's so easy to write Christmas songs, people would write them all the time and

there's very few that make it into repeated play, you know? Yeah. But I was really delighted with the songs that Daniel wrote, and I thought they really captured...

what it really feels like for me at Christmas time, you know, the stuff that I'm thinking about and how I feel. It's a little melancholy too, you know, that comes with the darkness of winter. It's a feeling a little bit like, am I ever going to get out of this? So, um, yeah. So yeah, the music, the music is something I'm really proud of. And yeah, Daniel Hart pulled it off. Oh, Daniel Hart's amazing. He, he, and he works with David Lowery a lot. He's done so many scores for him. I really love it.

Have you ever, John, have you ever tried to write your own holiday song? I've tried to do it. I tried to do this with some friends a couple years ago. We were like, let's write some new Christmas songs so we don't have to do these same songs for these holiday shows that we do. And it's really hard, you know? My song immediately, like,

spiraled into depression. It got very blue Christmas, but somehow Daniel was able to write two very inspiring and hopeful songs. Well, happy holidays, John. And again, sorry about the party.

Ah, yeah. You know, there's more parties to be had. Definitely. Well, take care, and we'll play one of the songs from an almost Christmas story. We'll play It's Christmas Today. All right. Thanks a lot, guys. Take care. You too. Take care. Bye. When the Christmas spirit cannot be found There's a bitter wind a-blowing Feet are frozen, faces frowned

Not a single friendly greeting walking down the street. Not a single light or tinsel in the tree. But a song in the distance, a song of mirth. I hear voices rejoicing in a baby's birth.

Let us all come together with a love in our heart. Let us celebrate a brand new start. It's Christmas today. Oh yes, it's Christmas. Even if your family may miss you so.

Still let the love between go on Christmas. On Christmas. On Christmas.

It really is a sweet film, an almost Christmas story it did. And when you watch it, he definitely channels that whole Burl Ives. You know, he's sort of a narrator, but he also sings the songs. I had never thought of John C. Reilly as our Burl Ives. But I actually think if you go back and watch his Tiny Desk, we could do a lot worse than John C. Reilly for 2024's Burl Ives.

Well, I'm actually getting pretty hungry. Let me... I don't actually even know what we have in here to eat. Let's take a look here. What are you in the mood for? I don't know, man. Anything. I don't understand how we've got a giant TV showing a Yule log and these couches, which I don't even know where we got these things. These are so comfy. And yet, where is the food? Well, we usually keep it pretty stocked, but this eggnog in the fridge is...

This might actually be from last year. Oh, God. Yeah. God, this is sour. Try this. It's such small portions. Why did you even drink it? It clearly smelled terrible. Oh, you know what? Here's some fruitcake. That's still good. You know that's not gone bad. My family actually had a fruitcake that we gave...

We passed around. You had the classic fruitcake that is like re-gifted every year from like 1968. It's like 20 years of it passing hands to, you know, I'd love to know what happened to it. I'm sure it's still edible.

My god, is that Chris Thiele's birthday cake? Yeah. We had this behind the desk for like a decade. Chris Thiele's 34th birthday. We didn't throw it away. No, Bobby Carter went through the shelves behind the tiny desk and removed all the food stuffs. And he put everything back here, including Chris Thiele's birthday cake. It's in this little plastic container, but it's like totally covered in mold. Don't open it. Oh.

You know what, let's just go around the building because there are plenty of vending machines and we'll go down to the third floor where our- Third floor vending machines usually have like a tuna salad sandwich or something. All things considered, morning edition, they're down there. They always get the best stuff. You know what I'm wondering, maybe should you call your family and let them know that we're stuck here at the office? We could be here a while. Really, they said only let me know if you're coming home.

You know, it's weird. The whole office is quiet. There's usually someone working at least at Morning Edition. That's like 24 hours a day. Yeah, we staff this place 24/7. There's engineers, there's security personnel, but there's like nobody. Wait a minute, do you hear that? Yeah, I... It's coming from Studio One down here, down the hall here. Hey fellas.

Megan Maroney? Megan, what are you doing here? What is this? What are you talking about? Didn't you get the memo? This is the holiday party of the year. This is the holiday party of the year? We always have the holiday party. We thought we were throwing the holiday party of the year. Is that Maddie D? Barty's strange. Maddie? John, we were just talking to you. Fuck.

Five minutes ago. What is he doing here? Everyone's here. Well, we didn't know you threw a big party like this every year. Is this what you normally do? I love just getting to hang out with my family. You know, I'm always on the road and doing other things, so I feel like this is the one time of the year that it actually slows down, and I love sleeping and eating. If you build a holiday around sleeping and eating, that's basically Thanksgiving. Well, that's true, but we're actually starving. Oh, my God. Robin, Robin.

That's a buffet and no Christy Lee's birthday cake to be found. Yeah, we're definitely hitting the buffet. Well, Megan, I know you really must love Christmas in this time of year because you just had that EP, Blue Christmas. Duh. You know, I wanted to have songs that you could really listen to year round. I didn't want them to be too cheesy and too like...

hanging stockings and baking gingerbread cookies. You know what I mean? I wanted to keep it like the themes, just like a country, a sad country song, like for Christmas morning. It's really not even that Christmassy because the whole idea is when did our love stop feeling like Christmas morning? So that one was kind of just like the feel, everyone knows the feeling of Christmas morning. And so that's how I incorporated it as a Christmas song. Yeah, I think that's the thing. Like you're writing a Christmas song, but you're also writing a great song.

And sometimes, it's amazing how often Christmas songs or people who try to write them forget to just also write a killer song.

Well, you also did the one "All I Want for Christmas is a Cowboy." That's not a sad song. I just wanted a two-step shuffle song. I have a song called "Lucky" that is the title track of my debut album, and performing that is just so much fun. So I was like, what if we did a Christmas version of "Lucky," kind of? And it ended up being, it's a funny song about wanting a cowboy who only wants me. So looking forward to singing those every single year until I'm dead.

That is the true meaning of Christmas. It is writing a song that nobody lets you stop performing. Happy holidays, Megan. Yeah, happy holidays. Happy holidays. Don't need a new phone, need a new car. Just bought me a new pink guitar. I'm an aunt to a puppy so I don't need one for me. I've been

♪ I had the time to make a list once, go check it twice ♪ ♪ The only thing I'd like to see under my Christmas tree ♪ ♪ Just what, get me talking, a stetson song ♪ ♪ Like a present, put 'em in some good cases ♪ ♪ Make 'em call me, please ♪ ♪ The one for Christmas is a cat who only wants me ♪

I know you're busy but if you've got time really pay attention to that last line the last one I loved. Loved Britney and Jessica too. So when you're flying over Austin or at Hawaii in some Wrangler jeans under my Christmas tree just get me taught in a step since I'm the present put I'm in some new cases making call me baby I swear

Alright, say it.

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