• News

• All

Nov 11, 2015 Jherek Bischoff By Christopher Roberts

Norwegian singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche has teamed up with Los Angeles-based experimental composer Jherek Bischoff for a new song entitled “Surviving Christmas.” The holiday song addresses the current European refugee crisis and can be streamed below. It will be released on November 20 as part of Indie For the Holidays, a new compilation/playlist put together by Amazon that will stream on Prime Music and for purchase via Amazon Music. The playlist includes 25 songs by artists such as Robert Pollard, SOAK, Rogue Wave, YACHT, Anna von Hausswolff, Ivan & Alyosha, Langhorne Slim, and others. Some are new original holiday songs, others are covers of holiday classics.

“It’s a simple song, projected in a big way,” said Lerche in a press release. “It’s bereft of irony or cynicism, and as such maybe corresponds with different eras. It’s something I hope both children and adults can appreciate and feel good listening to, perhaps even sing along to. If it feels too idealistic, wholesome, even naive, that is good. I wanted the song to identify and strive for our greatest potential as human beings, even if we as individuals fail to live up to it most of the time.”

Lerche also posted the song’s lyrics to his Facebook page, which are also below.

“Surviving Christmas” Lyrics:

“Let’s build a man from all the snow
That fell to earth not long ago
We’ll dress him up, give him a nose
Some stones for eyes that he can’t close

The snow is melting in the sun
But he will freeze when day is done
He can’t come in, he’ll have to stay
Out in the cold, out on display

Surviving Christmas is no abnormal feat
To any snowman frozen on the street
But an avalanche of vile debris
Can bring a snowman to his knees

He has a wife, they have two boys
They had a life that fate destroyed
He’ll cross an ocean in the desperate hope
That compassion awaits at the end of his rope

We pride ourselves with empathy
And wear it like an accessory
Yet the plight of others don’t fit in here
At least not now, this time of year

Surviving Christmas is no abnormal feat
To any snowman frozen on the street
But an avalanche of vile debris
Can bring a snowman to his knees

Our homes lit up by Christmas lights
and folks who share the human right
To safety, love and decency
Especially on Christmas Eve

The snowman right outside your door
Is no exception though we tend to ignore
The frosted souls with no hats, no decor
Melted down or washed ashore

They didn’t want to leave their home
They simply have nowhere else to go
This tired lesson is nothing new
So what good can these few couplets do?

If you’re still singing along with me
I’m sure you wouldn’t disagree
That Christmas only truly begins
When we invite the snowman in”