Christmas in February

by @dmelbygibbons · @briansmith · @wynia · @bearwith

Liner Notes

This one started as a goofy song about February and how it’s the baby month, and so thus…Christmas? I had mostly Groundhog Day themed lyrics, but thankfully realized that there's a ton of wonderful (and some random) awesomeness happening in February...and the song grew the way that babies do! Groundhog Day, Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, Leap Year, and of course...Norovirus!..which is no joke.

Also not included, but considered for the lyrics: perhaps Santa Claus has a “day job” at Gobbler’s Knob, the town where Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog makes a brief appearance each year on Feb 2nd? Daylight Savings Time used to begin on Feb 9th. Mardi Gras, followed by Ash Wednesday and the the season of Lent often take place in Februray. No Kings Day (Presidents' Day) happens. Billy Murray is a genius.

I wrote the sparse sketch of the tune and lyrics. My amazing @bearwith bandmates helped bring this to life! @wynia added the wonderful keyboard (which became organ through the Christmas magic of midi and #garageband), @briansmith added the gift of the sweet cello riff and beautiful phrasing. I played acoustic lyre (guitar) and sang this live...spliced together from a couple of takes just to keep it humble.

Performance credits, all recorded in the Wynia-Smith living room, in the nostalgic glow of their (now absent) Christmas tree. @dmelbygibbons #acousticguitar #vocals @wynia #organ
@briansmith #cello & audio engineering!

Sign the petition below if you’d like to switch Christmas to Feb 25th! Or maybe we could just celebrate FAWMas on the 25th?

A few more tags for good cheer! #collab #lullaby #happyFAWMas

Lyrics

Christmas in February Lyrics by David Melby-Gibbons
Music by David Melby-Gibbons and Bear With

Instrumental intro: D D/C# Bm G D A D

Verse 1 D D/C# Bm G It’s Christmas time in February F#m G A
It’s a baby of months holding great mystery D D/C# Bm G Yeah… I’m lucky, I’m lucky you see F#m G A I’m lucky because there’s still snow on the trees

Chorus 1 Em F#m G A Well the mystery is totally true Bm A Remember that sometimes G D There’s a leap year too

Verse 2 D D/C# Bm G It’s a uncommon manger scene F#m G A with a groundhog named Phil being born on TV! D D/C# Bm G Well, but some years I guess he’s not F#m G A Does that make the whole month so terribly rot?

Chorus 2 Em F#m G A Well the mystery is totally fine Bm A G D remember that sometimes groundhogs stay inside

Verse 3 D D/C# Bm G And let’s not forget about Norovirus F#m G A
in February it can still surprise us D D/C# Bm G It’s the airborne “winter vomiting bug” F#m G A at the time of the year when we all need a hug!...

            D                                    D/C#             Bm                             G

Since you’ve been be my Valentine even though I’m ill F#m G A
I know you’re my true love; I love you for real!

Chorus 3 Em F#m G A Well the mystery of love grows more and more true Bm A G D remember that sometimes we all catch the flu

Verse 4 D D/C# Bm G It’s the end of the winter, the beginning of spring F#m G A The snow is still here while the birds start to sing D D/C# Bm G Let’s have way more love for Black History! F#m G A Frederick Douglas’ birthday is February 14th!

Chorus 4 (and 5) Em F#m G A Well it’s Christmas in some kind of way Bm A G D I wish for all that is kind to send all hate away

  Em               F#m  G  A

True richness lives in diversity Bm A G D It’s the best Christmas present to have and receive

Verse 5 D D/C# Bm G Yes, it’s Christmastime in February F#m G A It’s a baby of months holding great mystery D D/C# Bm G Yeah… I’m lucky, I’m lucky you see F#m G A D D/C# Bm G D A... D You took the day off to spend leap year with me

Comments

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@leepat

lovely acoustic band feel to this with the organ and cello and the soft guitar. warm and fuzzy, as Xmas should be, esp. in February. the Valentine and the flu are my favourites (and chorus 5) - great finds all along. Well done all!

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Nice subtle organ, paired well with the very soothing guitar. I dig the chord shifts in the chorus especially, the descending line of the "remember" parts.

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@audrey

This fun, silly lyric makes me smile. I really like this warm, endearing melody and vocal too. The instrumental arrangement is absolutely gorgeous too. I love how you have achieved such a full, rich sound without making it a big production. Beautiful song!

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this is a wonderful song. so many aspects of the month are presented her in stellar lyrics and a gorgeously sung melody, i love your rhyme norovirus/surprise us and the device of altering the words in each chorus makes the song unfold in a panorama rather than repeat cycles. it is always moving forward and presenting different views of february. a perfect companion song to dar williams' melancholic view of the same month.

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This got me to the edge of tearing up. That goofy gentleness feels like such a sweet succotash of what it feels like to be human and looking for a little brightness in the gray days. And of the power of loving someone who loves you back and of being in a band. And personally the song reminded me that even though my daughter rotated through a carousel of symptoms in the last week of February - she skipped the throw-ups. Hooray.

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What a delightful song! Bittersweet and gently humorous. A real showcase of the various collab talents.

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@aeye

the airborne vomiting bug hahahaha. ( that was my Christmas Eve!) Lovely song. You all are just great at what you do.

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Great tune with very witty lyrics throughout. The arrangement is really understated and perfectly fits the vocal melody. I've got a theory that Groundhog Day is secretly a christmas movie - snow, redemption of a selfish character who learns that kindness is the right way to live your life.

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What a sweet tune! The sparse, but gorgeous accompaniment in this track is absolutely perfect. What instruments DON’T ya’ll play?

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That's a long song for such a short month. love the instrumentation especially the subtle organ bubbling under everything. Has a bit of a Sufjan Stevens .feel

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@hmorg

Wonderful how the idea unfurls and expands throughout the song. Beautiful arrangement and production to complement a beautiful composition.

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Wow, there's so much in this. Love how it covers all kinds of themes and describes so many feelings, but ties it all together with the February thing. Also, lovely rhymes all over.

The singing is beautiful and the instruments work really well together. I liked the rhythm of the organ, and the low cello is a great accompaniment to the vocals, especially in the chorus. The sound is nice and full and not overwhelming and easy to follow, which is a great quality. Melodic I really like the chorus, epecially the first line with the rising chords.

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This is really beautiful right off! I love that underlying organ and how that passes to the cello. The melody is lovely and I appreciate the lyrics, speaking of something so common as the months, but in such a human way....Very well written. You guys did a great job on this song!

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@kembole

Perfect! Love the vocals! "Rare" instruments like cello on fawm really bring songs to life. Happy to hear instrumentation that isn't that common on fawm. And by a talented player!

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@wynia

No Christmas tree in our living room but we do still have a few Santa window clings and…uh…pumpkins?! Happy to report the norovirus line has not yet manifested itself as truth despite it creating that mood when I was recording the keys 😆

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Neat lyrics -- a fun collaboration, and well-played. Keyboard and cello are especially fine.

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@burr Mod

i've heard more than one fawmer describe the morning of Feb 1 like christmas morning and all the new songs are presents. so one more february thing for the cache. 😉 overall pretty cool ideas and associations in this one. even the flu.

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this is great! i love your vocals, they're really reminiscent of bands like Destroyer and Of Montreal

[FAWM]