ManMade Musical Advent Calendar: December 18th Edition

Look – there’s no shame in admitting it: we at ManMade love the holiday season. The lights, the smells, and, most importantly, the sounds. No, not the soft rock mall music or the umpteenth crooner cover filler track, but the good holiday songs. The ones that give you energy, make you feel festive, and happy that it’s December.

And so, in 2015, we’re sharing our ManMade Musical Advent Calendar, where we offer a new favorite holiday song every day, by bands you actually care about.    

Friday, December 18th: “Someday at Christmas” by Remy Zero

I’ll admit it: that whole Christmastime “peace on earth” thing writ literal? It gets to me. I find the idea of war stopping and violence ending simply because Christmas is a season where people decide not to act like idiots is really touching. Those old stories of soldiers choosing to take a break from battle because it’s Christmas? Whoa. Hits me where I’m most tender. And songs like “I Heard the Bells,” that “pray for peace people everywhere” line of the otherwise pallid “Do You Hear What I Hear?” and Lennon’s idea that war can be over “if you want it”… they move me. They warm my Christmas heart, flat out.

Stevie Wonder’s original is near perfect, and Remy Zero’s version doesn’t make many changes: the tempo, arrangement, and tone are nearly identical, save for a few electric guitar textures added. But the modern recording gives it a higher fidelity that makes it mix nicely with the rest of the tunes on this list. Singer Cinjun Tate’s voice handles this as well as Little Stevie’s can, but there’s an extra flair of solemnity, because it’s been another thirty years, and we’re still killing each other.

Maybe not in time for you and me, but someday at Christmastime. Amen. 

Check out all the songs in the ManMade Musical Advent Calendar here!