Apocalypse on Christmas

After several years focused on parenting, podcasting, and leadership development work, I'm excited to release my new song Apocalypse on Christmas.

I wrote it last winter in the wake of a period of depression and an intense bout with Covid that laid me up for over a month. Writing it helped me heal.

It was kicked off by my five-year old daughter's playful attempts to steal my jacket. It turned into a love song for community amidst the fall of civilization :-)

You can listen to the full song here on Substack. It’s also available for download on Bandcamp, along with two other wintery songs to warm the heart.

Merry Christmas

-Andy

p.s. the well-read denizens of Substack might be hip to the fact that the word apocalypse - which in our modern era (circa 1980s) came to mean the “end times” of civilization - is rooted in the Greek apokalyptein which means to "uncover, disclose, or reveal," and evolved into the Middle English to mean “insight, vision; hallucination." The song is written in that spirit.

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Apocalypse on Christmas

Let me take your jacket
Rest here by the fire
Ladle up some cider
And tune the radio dial

Until you find the station
That's playing deck the halls
We can raise our glasses
And sing some Christmas songs

God remember how we used to live
So high up on that hog
Guzzling gas, streaming shows
Cinnabuns down at the mall

Now the power grid's collapsed
And we're waiting for the fall
So let us raise our glasses
And toast to all we've lost

We'll sing... Merry Christmas
Don't let it get you down
We never needed that stuff anyhow
So pour another round
I'll pour another round

Over at Saint Joseph's
They're cooking up a feast
The chaplain says her welcomes
Volunteers are sorting cutlery
And all the wandering souls
Well, they have a place to be
So let us raise our glasses
And sing in harmony

We'll sing... Merry Christmas
Don't let it get you down
We never needed that stuff anyhow
So pour another round

Merry Christmas
The dark days are here
But if we come together
Our light can see us clear
Yes our light is clear

So let me take your jacket
Rest here by the fire
No one knows what's coming
But it's probably gonna take a while

And I'm really glad you're with me
On this merry Christmas Eve
The dawn will surely come again
We'll see what we can see
But for now the yule log's burning
We've got everything we need

So let's sing one more time...

Merry Christmas
Don't let it get you down
We never needed that stuff anyhow
So pour another round Merry Christmas
The dark days are here
But if we come together
Our light can see us clear

Yes our light is clear