December Lights…

 
Another year is almost over.  Seems like the Holidays comes faster and faster. Maybe I’m just moving slower and slower:-)
Anyway…
Our new video for Valkyrie has hit over 10,000 views on Cruxshadows Official Youtube Channel.  The video fell behind its original intended release date, but I am really happy with the final product.  The new retro-futuristic video was directed by Marc Shahboz who also did Immortal and Quicksilver.  It shares his signature style and we think it is really pretty cool.  Please check it out if you have not already, and also please consider subscribing to our channel.  The more subscribers we get, the more we will create video content.
Unlike the rest of the world, We don’t have any advertisements on youtube, and we have no plans to change that in the foreseeable future.  So spread the word, because nothing works like the word of mouth…  Ok, a big budget does, but you know what I mean…:-)

Did I mention that I am collaborating on a play that is rooted in Cruxshadows’ mythology and uses the music of CXS.  No?  Well I am.  I think I mentioned it somewhere.  We are still moving forward on that, and I think there may be a possibility of some other media to support it.  Right now there are all sorts of possibilities… Kind of exciting… Keep your fingers crossed.  I will have more on this when I can give you some of the real details.  But for now: loose lips sink ships🙂
Oh… the Christmas track for 2013/2014. Yes, well…
I wrote and recorded another Christmas song.  This years track is called December Lights (Merry Christmas Dear ____).  Why does everything I do have a subtitle?  I don’t know… I like titles I guess.  Anyway…
The product of more than a few sleepless nights in the studio, I tried to create something that reached out on a personal level to a wide range of people.  I think that while most of us certainly enjoy the Holidays, for many it can be a difficult time as well.
Absence affects everyone in some way, shape, or form.
Some people are removed from their loved ones by distance; Perhaps a father or mother in the military is unable to be with their family, or perhaps close friends are just too far apart to be together.  Maybe finances just don’t allow for one to be ‘home for Christmas’.  Others have lost someone dear to them; a father, mother, brother, sister, close friend, husband, wife, or significant other.  The truth is that absence is a very real bi-product of life among humans.  We are, after all, social animals.  We need each other.  We love each other.  We miss each other when we are apart.  I think that it is important to appreciate what we have when we have it.  There are no guarantees that loved ones will be around next year, next month, or even tomorrow.
Tune into the news on any given day and you will find that life is fragile, and at the same time resilient.  We are given only to our world for a short time, but in that time we are survivors.
I happened on a radio (dedication call-in) show hostess recently who got my attention reading a letter from a “birth mother” who gave up her son to an adopting family at Christmas time.  She never regretted that decision, believing that her son was in the best of all possible situations.  The adoption was open… so she was still a part of his life.  But the woman went on to say that while she was happy in her choices, on the seventh anniversary, in the hour of his birth, she felt as though her heart was breaking as she longed to simply hold that child she had carried…
Absence touches us all in a different way.
Introspection during the holidays can magnify our longing and the expectation of happiness can intensify our pain.  But it is important… because Absence is the darker side of the most precious of all things I know; Absence is a part of Love.  Absence strengthens and affirms Love.  It is, to borrow a concept from one of my favorite authors (Kahlil Gibran), the void that allows us to hold Love, much like a cup holds wine.
So to all of you who find yourself missing someone, With love I dedicate this song to you.
As in the past, along with the other Christmas tracks I have written or recorded over the last few years, December Lights is available here as a free/donation-ware download.  If you like it please consider making a donation via paypal.  Finances not so good?  Wanna think about it first?  Don’t pay for music or art especially from the likes of a spikey haired guy in Florida?:-)
No problem.
No fee is required to download it or any of the other Christmas songs here.  Its just really appreciated.  I am putting up an AAC & an Mp3 file… and based on the responces from last years Tabhartas Dé, a full quality WAV file.  The AAC(iTunes) file should include the lyrics and cover art embedded in it already.  Not sure about the mp3.  But you can download the art and lyrics here.

 Lyrics (December Lights)
 
I hope you enjoy the song(s) and I wish each and every one of you a Happy Christmas & a Wonderful Holiday season:-)
Live Love Be Believe
Rogue
Here they are: The Christmas Songs
December Lights (Merry Christmas Dear) (MP3)
December Lights (Merry Christmas Dear) (AAC)
December Lights (Merry Christmas Dear) (WAV)
Tabhartas Dé (MP3)
Tabhartas Dé (AAC)
Tabhartas Dé (WAV)
Anmi’s Christmas (AAC)
Anmi’s Christmas (MP3)
O Holy Night (MP3)
O Holy Night (AAC)
A Promise Made (Wedding Day) (MP3)
A Promise Made (Wedding Day) (AAC)

There is no fee to download. If you like the songs please consider donating. Any amount is appreciated:-)