to get in the spirit , so we were just watching a bunch of Christmas movies , and I was like , “ You know what we need ? We need a song that would play ...” I don ’ t remember what the movie was , but I ’ m like , “ A punk version of “ White Christmas ” would kill right now ,” as the credits roll .
So that is my “ credits roll ” song right there . And it ’ s one of those done deals , like I think Burl Ives , or who did that song ? I can ’ t remember who still owns the copyright , but it ’ s a dumb move . Most of the time you made Christmas albums to make sure you have publishing and copyright stuff . This one we just like , it ’ s not a smart move , but I ’ m like , “ No , I need the credit for “ White Christmas ” just for me , so I can hit play when I watch whatever movie that was next time .”
[ WM ] Next you go into “ Carol of the Bells ”, which is a worshipful , intense thing . And then you ’ ve got the beautiful violin , then you bring in the choir and then you bring in the full , big ending with the symphony . Was that a real symphony or are those all plugins ?
[ Crowder ] Well , it ’ s Tommee Profitt .
[ WM ] Well that explains a lot right there .
[ Crowder ] He ’ s been doing that cinematic , epic production . And as soon as we were going to go down that road , I ’ m like , “ Well , Tommee ’ s got to be a part of this .” That was a really interesting one to pull together because there were so many pieces and voices about it . And gosh , when it finally gelled , I still am getting goosebumps when the lyrics ’ octave goes up an octave . Oh my gosh .
[ WM ] It ’ s a powerful moment . It ’ s huge !
[ Crowder ] At the end ? Oh , man , it ’ s nuts . We probably started working on it when we started the album and it ’ s one of the last ones we got done . Because there are so many pieces to it . And to fit it all together , make sure that it was coming in a way that felt authentic and right for the end of the record . And it was kind of like one of those , “ This will be the last hoorah before we put a bow on it at the end .”
[ WM ] Well , speaking of the bow at the end , that ’ s your “ December 26th Auld Lang Syne ”, and it starts kind of winding down the record and settling you in . And then it has that “ Sometimes Hallelujah ” vibe to it a little bit at the start . But the instrumentation and the recorded vocals are simply gorgeous on that one , too . I mean , was this all done in your studio there for the most part , or are you going back and forth with Tommee ’ s studio ?
[ Crowder ] No , that one was crazy . It was at Ben Glover ’ s place , at his house . And we were sitting around , had just written the lyric to the verses , and I ’ m like , “ Dude , this has to have ...” There ’ s this Tom Waits song that I was referencing , and it has this pump organ . And I pulled up this YouTube video of him playing . And Neil Young , he ’ s got some live stuff where he ’ s at a pump organ too . And I ’ m like , “ Bro , I ’ ve got a pump organ that was from my Uncle Elmer .” So great Uncle Elmer . That my mom ’ s side of the family would sit around every Christmas and they would sing . He would write all the music out and assign everybody