Now and then, I like to try playing along to stuff I’m listening to. For the most part, I do an okay job of anticipating chord changes, structures, and progressions. Not that the artists I love are predictable at all, but because we’re trained by popular music and Western culture to think a certain way or to stay within keys or musical contexts.
But then, an artist like Arthur C. Lee grabs my ear and confounds my attempts at guitar accompaniment. I don’t consider this frustrating at all—if anything, his defiance of standard progressions is liberating. Lee is both a student and teacher of music and his love of and immersion in jazz shows in his chord stylings. And none of this is to suggest that “Holiday Cheer,” his contribution to the Ball of Wax winter edition, is anything too sonically complicated or challenging to the ears. The chord changes and melody of the simple guitar and toy piano arrangement serve what is essentially the narrative of waking up late in the night with a head full of crystal-clear childhood memories.
It’s a beautiful picture Lee paints and it works pleasantly with the accompaniment and structure to pay homage to both nostalgia and the strong emotions it brings. In essence, “Holiday Cheer” is a lovely tribute to both Lee’s own personal history and to one of music’s earliest historic purposes—storytelling.