The Music of Christmas – Day 11: “Christmas Is All Around”

“Christmas Is All Around”
By Billy Mack

Okay, this is kind of a cheat. Billy Mack doesn’t exist, and his song was written for a movie. Featured in the 2003 romantic comedy “Love Actually”, this is a remake of “Love Is All Around”, only they replaced the word “love” with “Christmas”.

Awkwardly.

The meter of the song is ruined by adding an extra syllable. Putting in the pun “Come on and let it snow” is painful to listen to.

The whole point of the song in the movie is to give aging rock star Billy Mack, played to perfection by Bill Nighy, an easy cash grab during the holidays. He knows it. His manager knows it. He makes sure everyone knows it. It’s purely an attempt to make more money.

It’s selling out at its finest, and it is made awesome because it’s recognized as such.

“Love Actually” has become one of our Christmas traditions here. We watch it every year. We’ve even seen it performed with a live orchestra. We know the movie has flaws — some pretty major ones — but it still remains one of our favorites.

So this song represents the movie, both as plot but also as the meaning — it’s Christmas and it, like love, actually is all around.

Tomorrow – it’s a day of numbers.