Original Christmas Songs with Beyonce, The Killers, Train, and More!

Is it ever too early or too late to talk about Christmas music? I’m one of those people that play it year-round so I’d have to answer that question with a jingle bell ringing, heartfelt “no!” I often go back to one of my favorite holiday hit makers, The Trans-Siberian Orchestra for their cover versions of classics but also their original songs, too. Whether it’s an instrumental or a song with lyrics, they have such a vivid sound. While they perform Christmas classics along the way, they also have original songs which can’t be easy when it comes to (almost) everyone’s favorite holiday. Of course, I can’t even figure out how any songwriter is able to come up with something new. But writers are gifted with the ability to do that. I came across a country music band who recently posted an original Christmas song and it’s this one that inspired today’s list. “Christmas Night With You” is a beautiful song by Little Big Town that reminded me, yet again, that not every song about the holiday has to be playful and cheery. In fact, some of my favorites lean more towards heartache and angst. So let’s get to it, shall we? Here are my favorite original Christmas songs. And by “original,” I just mean they aren’t songs that have been covered a million times and perhaps they haven’t become an essential part of holiday playlists… yet.

First up, Jon McLaughlin with “”Christmas Time Is Here, But You’re Not”…

The Killers featuring Dawes “Christmas in L.A.”

“Christmas Must Be Tonight” The Band

“Christmas Canon Rock” Trans-Siberian Orchestra

“Ave Maria” Beyonce

“All Alone On Christmas” Darlene Love

“Gather Round” Band of Merrymakers

“Christmas Island” Train

There are plenty more and I’ll be continuing to add to my “Christmas 2024” playlist as I’m introduced to the songs. If you have suggestions, comment below!

-Out of the Wilderness

The Woman in the Tears for Fears “The Girl That I Call Home” Music Video

“Shout, shout, let it all out.” If the next line in your brain is… “These are the things I can do without” then this post is for you. When my brother-in-law and I do our outdoor workouts as we train for an upcoming sprint triathlon, we call up rock songs from 2000s, 1990s, or 1980s. And it’s the 1980s playlist that would include “Shout” from rock band Tears For Fears. Another of their well-known songs is “Everybody Wants To Rule…” and if you know the end of that line is “…the World,” then you were definitely born before 1995. Both of those songs were released in the 80s and now, about 40 years later, Tears For Fears is rocking their way back into the modern music scene. They have a new album and a new music video to accompany a new song. The track written by Roland Orzabal and John Shanks is called “The Girl That I Call Home.” Take a look then scroll down for the name of the starring actress.

The Home Girl. Starring in the video is a woman of many talents. She’s actress/dancer/singer/director Renee Kester. Check out her Instagram (@nayya_official) for many other projects she’s part of including directing, acting, and choreography.

Renee is so natural on camera and that’s a skill that isn’t easy to acquire. Especially when you’re the only person appearing in the video! She must be an Enneagram 7, right? Playful, optimistic, spontaneous. Or at least that’s the part she plays convincingly in this video. Side note: I’m totally on a personality-investigating kick ever since my friend Nick Shell wrote a book (Amazon: The Guy’s Guide to the Enneagram) detailing personalities through the lens of the Enneagram system. I’m a 4, if you must know you nosy goofball!

Aaaaaaand back to the music. I reached out to Renee (because I guess I like investigating things?) to find out about her experience as the main character of the video. She had worked with the music video director before and said she was happy to work with him again, calling him a genius and an amazing human being. She also was gracious enough to tell me more about the shoot itself:

I had an amazing time working on “The Girl That I Call Home”. It was a quick couple of shoot days and the director had me go through a range of emotions. I was acting to the camera for the most part, but they allowed me to bring on my acting partner, Lincoln Adam, to be behind the camera to make it more real. He actually ended up shooting some of the shots on a video camera.

OK, yes, allowing an actress/actor to bring in someone they are super comfortable with was a brilliant idea. I’m starting to think Renee was right about that genius director thing!

You might also recognize Renee from when she showed off her flexible dance skills avoiding a bunch of lasers in this Prius commercial from a few years back.

Random memory alert. Watching that Prius commercial reminded me of that time I was side by side with a Toyota Echo (remember those?) at a stop light in Nashville, Tennessee. I should be embarrassed by what happened at that intersection, but instead of hiding it, I wrote about it here.

What do you think about the new song from Tears For Fears? Chime in with a comment below! I post every day at 1pm central time so check back for future posts or subscribe (link at the top of this post) for email notifications.

-Out of the Wilderness

I love this horse commercial from Samsung Galaxy and AT&T

Lately I’ve been repeating, “…got me feeling like a big ol’ cowboy.” And for sure I’ll be saying it again after this post because the actor puts so much drama into it. If you’ve seen the Samsung Galaxy / AT&T commercial, you know what I’m talking about. Check it out below then scroll down for more…

There’s another part of the commercial that I appreciate so much from a quirky humor angle. It comes after the father decides to go to the waiting room. As he turns the horse around, the wispy tail brushes directly over his daughter’s face and it’s needless, and amazing. I love it. Even the dentist pulls back as a reaction to the horse’s tail whipping by.

The guy is using a Samsung Galaxy Flip 5 to take a selfie, and the outside screen is the phone’s most recognizable feature. I have the Flip 4 and I love it for its functions but also the conversations it sparks with family, friends, and strangers. I have a feeling I’ll be upgrading to a new Samsung flip phone when I pay the 4 off.

My only hesitation with the 5 (or future versions when that happens) is the entire purpose of the outside screen. With the 4 (and previous versions), the idea of folding your phone was the benefit of disconnecting from technology to be present in the moment. Not distracted, as all of us now and then, by our phones. But with the 5, the outer screen is much bigger than the 4, which draws us back in to using the phone as much as if it were folded open. This is in conflict with that idea of the original Galaxy flips.

But one thing most people can agree on: Horses are awesome.

-Out of the Wilderness

Music Video Labels Are Out of Control

Who else gets excited to find a new pet peeve, just me!? I’ve uncovered another one recently and it has to do with music videos. It’ll be added to my list of pet peeves which includes: 1. When people say “right” the wrong way, 2. the phrase “pay their fair share”, 3. people stopping in the middle of the grocery aisle, completely oblivious to shoppers around them, 4. high wasted jeans… but wait, there’s more! We must be in the wild, wild west of music video labels. Do a search for your new favorite song and you’re probably going to see 4 different versions, all with labels like the following:

Official Audio Video

Official Fan Video

Official Lyric Video

Official Studio Video

Official Video Visualizer

Official Visualizer

Official Video

Audio

Video

Lyric Video

These artists and record companies need to get a grip. What happened to the good ol’ days when there was an artist who releases a song and then music video and that’s it? Fans can simply enjoy it for what it is and then look forward to the next one.

I was inspired to write this post today after seeing a new video from Maddie & Tae. They both seem like great people and that’s all well and good. But what’s with the high-waisted Daisy Duke jean shorts? I don’t know any guy who likes high-waisted jeans so this adds evidence to my theory: Men dress to impress women. Women dress to impress women.

It’s a weird thing and ladies, high-waisted jeans do nothing for your figure. Also, if you’re posting a video with your latest hit song, we don’t need an official audio, visualizer, performance visualizer, or anything else except for the music video. Keep it simple!

-Out of the Wilderness

Why I Support A Woman’s Right To Make Choices About Her Own Body

There are a lot of differences in the platforms of the Democrats and Republicans, one of the biggest is reproductive rights. While Donald Trump was in office, the Supreme Court sent the abortion issue back to each of the 50 states so residents can vote how they see fit for their state. In the last few elections, Democrats have promised to make the results of Roe vs. Wade into law and presidential hopeful Kamala Harris has done so, as well. In fact, reproductive rights are one of the pillars of the Harris / Walz campaign. From their website…

This might not be what you expect to hear from a conservative man, but I actually agree with Kamala and Tim on the first line of their statement: Vice President Harris and Governor Walz trust women to make decisions about their own bodies, and not have the government tell them what to do. There are two parts of that statement and yes, I agree with both. The latter is great; The less federal government involvement, the better. That’s part of why sending this issue back to the state (and local) level is a win. I’m not sure Harris or Walz see the irony of their statement, though, since they want to bring abortion back to the federal level. The first part of that– women making decisions about their own body– yes. I fully support that. I trust almost every woman I know. Women, in general, have amazing intuition and the ability to empathize, encourage, nurture, and strike fear into people at will. They’re amazing. But it’s a woman (and her doctor, instead of the father, for some reason?) making decisions about the baby’s body that I cannot, and will not, support. My loyalty remains with Scripture that says we are created in our mother’s womb, and the right all of us have to life.

When I was writing about this topic a few years ago, I found out that just 3 weeks after inception, the fetus has its own blood type, usually different than the blood type of the mother. That might not sound like a big deal. It didn’t to me, at the time… until I dug further. We’ve all been asked to donate blood at some point in our lives. I remember after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, there was a big push for blood donations. When you go in to donate, one of the first questions is “What is your blood type?” Why does that matter, though? Well, when I was researching, I learned that it’s fatal for one person to have 2 different blood types in their body. For example, someone who needs type A will die rather quickly if they get blood from a type B donor. So circling back to the pregnant woman, she’s either a freak of nature who can survive with mixed blood or the baby in her belly is just that, a separate human who just happens to be unborn for a little while longer.

Sometimes I can’t help but laugh at Democrat politicians. Harris and Walz are sticking with the lie, calling it reproductive freedom which is about as honest as calling a climate change bill the “Inflation Reduction Act.”

Here in Florida, I’ll be voting ‘no’ on Amendment 4… a vaguely written amendment trying to change Florida’s 6-week limit on abortions. And if you’re the neighbor who stole my sister’s “Vote No on 4” sign from her yard in Florida, you can kick rocks!

-Out of the Wilderness