For the parents who say they want nothing

• Christmas in Her Hands

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  AcousticWarm female vocalsFestive

  A Christmas song for Mum, who IS Christmas in this family: the woman who starts the present cupboard in July, makes three kinds of stuffing because we can't agree, and still hangs the terrible salt-dough ornaments we made in the 90s, pride of place. This year we're all home for the first time in ages. The song goes under the tree.

  Read the words

  Verse 1

  Since July there's been a cupboard full of secrets,Wrapping paper crinkling when you think we can't hear,Wendy, you've been planning this since summer,Because for you it's always nearly Christmas time of year.

  Verse 2

  Three kinds of stuffing lined along the counter,Since we never could agree on only one,You just made them all and called it settled,That's the kind of peace that Wendy's kitchen's always won.

  Chorus

  You are Christmas, Mum, you always have been,Not the tinsel or the lights upon the tree,It's the salt dough hanging crooked from the 90s,Pride of place, right where the whole world sees.

  Verse 3

  Little lopsided stars we made as children,Cracked and painted, but you'd never let them go,Every year you find the perfect branches,Hang our clumsy hands where all the shiny ornaments won't go.

  Chorus

  You are Christmas, Mum, you always have been,Not the tinsel or the lights upon the tree,It's the salt dough hanging crooked from the 90s,Pride of place, right where the whole world sees.

  Bridge

  This year we're all home, under one roof again,Round the table, all the chairs are filled,And I know that somewhere you're just quietly smiling,Watching all the noise you always willed.

  Verse 4

  So here's a song to go beneath the branches,Next to gifts you started buying in July,Wendy, this is us all saying thank you,For every single Christmas you would never let slide by.

  Final Chorus

  You are Christmas, Mum, you always have been,Not the tinsel or the lights upon the tree,It's the salt dough hanging crooked from the 90s,Pride of place, right where the whole world sees.

  Outro

  So hang the crooked stars up one more time,Make all three stuffings, we'll clear every plate,Wendy, you're the heart of every Christmas,The reason coming home has never had to wait.

• Dad's Christmas Crown

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  Acoustic popWarm male vocalsChristmas

  A Christmas song for Dad: the man who unravels the lights swearing every year, carves the turkey wearing the cracker crown like a king, and falls asleep during the film he insisted we watch. He does the Santa plate crumbs still, and the youngest grandchild is eleven. Christmas is Dad-shaped in this house. The song should be too.

  Read the words

  Verse 1

  Down from the attic, the lights come outTangled again, no doubt about itRay rolls his sleeves up, mutters a curseSame three words every single yearSays this time they'll behave

  Pre-Chorus

  But it isn't Christmas, not the sameTill we've heard him swear at the fairy lights again

  Chorus

  Cause Christmas is Dad shaped in this housePaper crown, king at the head of the table nowCarving the turkey like it's his throneStill gets it wrong but he calls it his ownThat's how we know we're home

  Verse 2

  He picks the film that we all must watchThen he's asleep before the clock strikes halfThere's crumbs again on the Santa plateEleven years old is our youngest oneStill believes because of what he's done

  Chorus

  Cause Christmas is Dad shaped in this housePaper crown, king at the head of the table nowFalling asleep in the same old chairWaking up to say he wasn't thereThat's how we know we're home

  Bridge

  Every year the very same sceneEvery year it means everythingRay, you're the thread through all our yearsThe lights, the crown, the crumbs, the cheer

  Final Chorus

  Cause Christmas is Dad shaped in this houseAlways will be, however things turn outSo keep swearing softly at the string of lightsKeep falling asleep on Christmas nightThat's how we'll always knowThat's how we'll always know we're home

• Hartley's Holiday

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  Acoustic popWarm family vocalsChristmas

  We're the Hartleys: two parents, three kids, one grandma upstairs, and this year we agreed no presents over a tenner, so I'm cheating with a song about us. The Boxing Day walk nobody wants and everyone loves, the annual Monopoly ban, Grandma's sherry measures, Dad's gravy pride. Our ordinary, brilliant Christmas, in a song.

  Read the words

  Verse 1

  Two parents, three kids and a house full of noiseGrandma's up the stairs with her Christmas playlist voiceWe said no presents this year, over a tenner's the ruleSo here's a song instead, cheaper and truer

  Verse 2

  Dad's basting that gravy like it's a national testGuarding the pan like it's the only one he'll ever make best"Just needs one more stir" he says, every single yearWe nod and we let him, we let him, my dear

  Chorus

  This is us, the ordinary, brilliant kindSherry measures from Grandma that'll blow your mindMonopoly's banned again before it can start a warThat's the Hartleys, that's Christmas, that's what we're for

  Verse 3

  Boxing Day walk, nobody wants to goBoots by the door, moaning out in the coldBut we always end up laughing halfway round the greenBest part of the whole day, best thing we've seen

  Chorus

  This is us, the ordinary, brilliant kindSherry measures from Grandma that'll blow your mindMonopoly's banned again before it can start a warThat's the Hartleys, that's Christmas, that's what we're for

  Bridge

  No fortunes wrapped in paper, no bows on topJust Grandma's laugh and Dad's proud gravy potJust cold hands warming after that same old walkJust us, all together, that's worth more than gold

  Chorus

  This is us, the ordinary, brilliant kindSherry measures from Grandma that'll blow your mindMonopoly's banned again before it can start a warThat's the Hartleys, that's Christmas, that's what we're for

  Outro

  So here's to the Hartleys, whatever this year bringsGrandma's sherry, Dad's gravy, all our ordinary thingsNo tenner could buy this, no bow could tie it rightMerry Christmas, Hartleys, sleep tight

Hear each one with its full story: Christmas song for Mum · Christmas song for Dad · Christmas gift song