'Ring Out The Bells!'

This is another of my Christmas songs from my Maybrick44 Youtube channel. Written (as ever) with Harvey Summers its about the way I feel kids grow up too soon these days and how, instead of spending time outdoors with their mates, kids spend more and more of their time indoors playing computer games. With mobile phones seemingly thrust at them as soon as they can walk I fear the kids of today are being put under pressure to grow up far more quickly than is healthy. Christmas should remain a time of wonder for children for as long as possible I feel and trying to make an 8 year old act like a member of the Political correctness executive is wrong in my opinion. Making mistakes, doing the wrong thing, saying the wrong thing, acting in the wrong way is all part of learning and if kids are prevented from making small mistakes when they are young they will inevitably make bigger (and potentially more damaging) one when they are adults.

The video (or most of it) was again filmed at Church-in-the-Wood in Hollington and 'the old man working quietly at a bench' is actually my Dad, Ian. Dad is a lover of re-painting old wall plaques so his shed is the nearest thing to what Father Christmases workshop might look like I know of. Harvey was keen to stick this out as a single after we recorded it but I hear it more as an album track because of its long intro. The chorus is a really smashing one though and I like the way it ends as well - even though I sometimes think it comes a bit soon bearing in mind the time it took the song to get going...

I hope you like it and if you have kids of your own, I hope you take a moment to think about my message here. Christmas is really a time for children but we are all kids inside and I don't think we ever really lose our inner child so it makes good sense to allow ourselves proper time to develop so that we have no regrets about our younger years when we get older.

I am gradually working towards enough material to produce a Christmas album but the way things are financially these days that could be a long way off yet so for now you will just have to listen to my stuff here or on my Youtube channel!

Much love x