A Pete Seeger Inspired Song for You: “A Note to Saint Nick”

post 66 - The Story Behind the Song

Back in the aughties, I attended a Holiday Party at the home of Connie Hogarth, a powerful activist for peaceful conflict resolution. A picture of her standing beside Martin Luther King hung from her wall. Another showed her standing with Nelson Mandela. A third showed her standing with Pete Seeger.

Pete, a friend of Connie’s, was in attendance that night, as were dozens of other good and creative people. We ate and we sang. Twenty or more voices joined in harmony, singing one good song after another.

The singing was so joyful that most people rarely left the room. But on one of my innumerable trips into the kitchen for more food, I joined a conversation with Pete and our mutual friend David Bernz.

TALKING PEACE

We talked a bit about some impediments to peace: greed and insatiability. We talked a lot about some remedies: forgiveness, tolerance, remembering how to work together, and recognizing all people as potentially valuable members of one big family.

In typical Spook Handy fashion, I suggested that the mythological figures we revere may or may not have ever really lived among us. But that doesn’t matter. Whether the myths are accurate, exaggerated, or pure fantasy, they still present guiding lights. Santa Claus, I said, may not be near the top of the list of mythological heroes, but there’s still value in exploring what he can represent.

THE SANTA WITHIN

“Suppose we ditch the idea of ‘Santa’ as some figure outside ourselves,” I said, “and find the Santa within. What real gift would we give each other, then?” I wondered if anybody could recognize the Santa in herself. Would anybody recognize a real ‘Santa’ if he walked among us?”

Pete stood with his lower back leaning against the edge of the counter, hands in his pockets, looking down with his head slightly turned so that one ear pointed more directly toward the sound of our voices. He slowly looked up, eyes sparkling, and told stories about how various European cultures have different stories about Santa, Saint Nicholas, Saint Wenceslaus, and others. Soon he was on to Eastern Europe and Orthodox traditions. Not long after, he talked about non-Christian religions and other holiday figures. Pete saw the human race as one big diverse family with a wealth of varieties of stories, histories, cultures, and mythologies.

On my way home that night, driving along the Hudson River on a snow-dusted Route 9D, the words of our conversation reverberated in my head. I looked up through my windshield at the celestial sky-scape and a song suddenly presented itself to me. I listened some, and I listened more. I used various mnemonic devices to remember every aspect of the song I could. One hour and fifty minutes later, I arrived home, charged up into the “Dungeon” – my attic studio - and worked the song out of the ethers and onto paper and my guitar. And a year or two later, I recorded it.

Here’s a link to the song for your listening pleasure:

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