Categories: Music

The Minor Keys: Christmas for One

I’m the holiday-type. It feels weird to need to say that, but I have met people who really do not welcome date-specific times of celebration. I enjoy an excuse to be merry and put up bright lights, but this year I am a bit at odds with Christmas. I find myself alone and living in an in-between town, squared center from where I was to where I am going, and that is not conducive to cheer. I’m doing my best though, I made a couple of people happy and that always warms me for a bit, but sometimes I just want to read a book or listen to music with people like me.

This post may come off a little bit Microwave Cooking for One, but there is a season for everything and everyone.

The Right Music

Joni Mitchell’s song, River, opens with a minor key contrast of Jingle Bells. Wouldn’t it be nice to get away from the loneliness of the season and skate down a river?

The Right Socks

Keeping warm during the holidays extends well beyond what you feel in your heart. Ground yourself with some special socks, even a single pair. Sometimes when we feel down, we forget

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Isn’t it Wonderful Now?

I remember my Grandma, trying to figure out what to do with a young boy, asking me if I wanted to get a music player. I came from a poor household, drugs all over, and nobody ever got me anything new. My fathers side was largely a mystery to me but my Grandma had started reaching out and so I got to spend time with one of the nicest people I have ever met. A bit bigger than my 10 year old bobble head, the box was light blue and had a CD player at the top.

The next question, which I had not considered, was “What do you want to get to listen to?” I get to pick my own music as well? I was over the moon. I had always just listened to music when other people were listening to music. When my Grandma asked me what I liked, I had no clue what that was so I did what most kids do in such situations, I guessed based off of which looked the coolest. Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile by Everclear. I could tell my Grandma was not sold that I knew exactly what I was getting, but she let me nonetheless.

I consumed every song, even Unemployed Boyfriend which I saw nothing wrong with at the time or Thrift Store Chair with the “real good sex”. It was also where I first heard Brown Eyed Girl, so much that when I first heard Morrison I thought it was a cover. For a kid who often felt alone though, Wonderful carried me through so much.

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