I managed to get around to this one...I had the tune kicking about for a couple of months...but it wasn't going anywhere so it has suffered the ignominy of being used for a Christmas song...in other words, I whacked some sleigh bells on it.
It was just a chance to rattle off a load of lyrics about growing up in the 70's and what-have-you. The Soundcloud photo is of my Dad, brother Mark and me outside our old house....probably Christmas 1969.
Christmas Like it Used to Be
VERSE 1
Open fires and open houses
Christmas jumpers, casual trousers
The church bell chimes
The best of times
Friends and family come and go
They melt away into the snow
You wave goodbye
And the time just flies
PRE CH
Ugly pop stars top the chart
Snowmen slowly fall apart
A bag of nuts, a bit of fruit
Unvetted men in santa suits
Movies where the good guys win
Churches with some people in
Glasses raised instead of fists
Eyebrows question honours lists
VERSE 2
A pantomime in every home
In futuristic monochrome
On BBC
Or ITV
Game show bargain basement prizes
Actors wearing bad disguises
You’re starry-eyed
At the TV guide
PRE CH
Auntie knits you a balaclava
Uncle loves the whole palava
Turkey, stuffing, Cranberry
Toys that don't need a battery
No such thing as “interest free”
No suicidal spending spree
No one went the whole nine yards
We maxed out on our Xmas cards
CHORUS
Power cuts and candle light
Three day weeks and snowball fights
Snow drifts blocking country lanes
Frost inside the window panes
Crippled by industrial action
Winter proved a sweet distraction
Even so, I’d like to see
Christmas like it used to be...
Big thanks to Adam and Paulski for running the show and therefore helping me make the effort :)