Christmas Day
The kids are rumbling and you’re humming
A Christmas tune or something
Jack goes tumbling, starts crying
But you squeeze him ‘til he’s laughing
The sun goes down on the gardens
The light comes off the bay
And I long to make this perfect moment stay—to stay
I kiss your shoulder, it’s getting colder
I take the picnic rug and roll ya
You’re so thin it scares me
Your face is drawn but you smile
And I love you so bad it knots me up inside—inside
Commit it to my memory
Always you this way
Always you this way—today
Jack is tired but Jamie’s wired
He’s got a plastic gun and fires it
Their Mumma’s hurting and they know it
But today they haven’t shown it
The horror lurks below this—
The normal everyday
And bides its time to rip you clear away—away
But not today, today, today
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Music and lyrics: Toby Roberts. Instrumentation: The Telltales. Recording: Steve Shipley, Lemon Studios, 2004. Produced by The Telltales and Steve Shipley. Mastering: William Bowden. All recordings ©2004 Will Belford, Peter Gifford, Mark Roberts, Toby Roberts (The Telltales). All compositions (lyrics & music) ©2000-2004 Toby Roberts. Painting: from Pieter Brueghel’s Haymaking and Tower of Babel, reproduced courtesy of the State Reference Library, State Library of New South Wales.