After several years focused on parenting, podcasting, and leadership development work, I'm excited to release my new song Apocalypse on Christmas.

I wrote it last winter in the wake of a period of depression and an intense bout with Covid that laid me up for over a month. Writing it helped me heal.

It was kicked off by my five-year old daughter's playful attempts to steal my jacket. It turned into a love song for community amidst the fall of civilization :-)

You can listen to the full song here on Substack. It’s also available for download on Bandcamp, along with two other wintery songs to warm the heart.

Merry Christmas

-Andy

p.s. the well-read denizens of Substack might be hip to the fact that the word apocalypse - which in our modern era (circa 1980s) came to mean the “end times” of civilization - is rooted in the Greek apokalyptein which means to "uncover, disclose, or reveal," and evolved into the Middle English to mean “insight, vision; hallucination." The song is written in that spirit.

Apocalypse on Christmas

Let me take your jacket Rest here by the fire Ladle up some cider And tune the radio dial

Until you find the station That's playing deck the halls We can raise our glasses And sing some Christmas songs

God remember how we used to live So high up on that hog Guzzling gas, streaming shows Cinnabuns down at the mall

Now the power grid's collapsed And we're waiting for the fall So let us raise our glasses And toast to all we've lost

We'll sing... Merry Christmas Don't let it get you down We never needed that stuff anyhow So pour another round I'll pour another round

Over at Saint Joseph's They're cooking up a feast The chaplain says her welcomes Volunteers are sorting cutlery And all the wandering souls Well, they have a place to be So let us raise our glasses And sing in harmony

We'll sing... Merry Christmas Don't let it get you down We never needed that stuff anyhow So pour another round Merry Christmas The dark days are here But if we come together Our light can see us clear Yes our light is clear

So let me take your jacket Rest here by the fire No one knows what's coming But it's probably gonna take a while

And I'm really glad you're with me On this merry Christmas Eve The dawn will surely come again We'll see what we can see But for now the yule log's burning We've got everything we need

So let's sing one more time...

Merry Christmas Don't let it get you down We never needed that stuff anyhow So pour another round Merry Christmas The dark days are here But if we come together Our light can see us clear

Yes our light is clear