Stay up tonight for the solstice
Keep your candle bright for the solstice
The return of the light on the longest night of the year
Well we know how to do jolly
with the mistletoe and the holly
And fertility rites on the longest night of the year
With pudding and cake and a feast divine
and presents under a big green pine
with a string of lights and colored balls bright
and on top a star that shines
Stay up tonight for the solstice
Keep your candle bright for the solstice
The return of the light on the longest night of the year
[guitar solo]
The stockings are over the telly
For the man with the beard and the belly
Mr. Wodan of course with his flying horse in the night
The athletes compete in their playoffs
and the rich give the poor a day off
We can slave for pay any other day of the year
The wassailed-up chorus is singing its tune
Cause the twelve days of Horus are coming up soon
Saturnalia and Sol Invictus too
There are so many parties to do
There’d have to be three of you!
Stay up tonight for the solstice
Keep your candle bright for the solstice
Let the lights all blink and the yule log burn
Let the wise men come and the fools return
For the birth of the sun on the longest night of the year!
It’s the birth of the sun
The rebirth of the sun
It’s the birth of the sun
The rebirth of the birth of the sun at the
most
wonderful
time
of the year
Andy Ditzler, piano and vocal
with
Robby Handley, bass
Marlon Patton, drums
Colin Bragg, guitar
Mark Hamilton, lead guitar
chorus: Victor B Bicycle, Daniel Clay, Trappers Cabin, Mary Lago, Nat Slaughter, Blake Williams
I was reading about the history of Christmas, and how so many of the holiday traditions we enjoy bear an uncanny resemblance to the pre-Christian rituals of pagan Europe and ancient Egypt, all of which centered around the Winter Solstice. As Christianity spread, it subsumed these rituals into Christmas celebrations. A neat trick – it allowed people to keep their holiday traditions after they converted.
So this anthem for the Winter Solstice returns the favor. I think of it as a reverse appropriation, since it’s in the style of all those Christmas pop singles I heard on the radio every winter when I was growing up. I hope you like it. Happy holidays from Frequent Small Meals!
- AD, Atlanta, October 2008
Solstice words and music ©2006 Andy Ditzler
Single released November 2008 on Frequent Small Meals
recorded April and September 2008, Atlanta, GA
produced by Andy Ditzler
recorded and mixed by Will Loftin
mastered by Chris Griffin
Solstice video directed by George Kuchar
Released December 2009
purchase Solstice at iTunes for 99 cents
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