Let It Snow!

Let It Snow!

Chris Tong � Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Links | About This Song | Lyrics | Additional Notes

Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Let It Snow!

LINKS

ABOUT THIS SONG

release date: July, 1945
length: 1 min 43 sec
music: Jule Styne
lyrics: Sammy Cahn
vocals: Chris Tong
musical arrangement: Chris Tong
instruments: piano roll, violin, toy glockenspiel, electric guitar, brass ensemble, upright bass, bell synthesizer, sleigh bells

I love holiday music! So it was inevitable that at some point, I'd try my hand at it. This recording is under two minutes long. But it's packed with musical delights — repeat listens reward the discerning ear. . . Enjoy!

LYRICS

Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful.
And since we've no place to go,
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

It doesn't show signs of stoppin',
So I brought some corn for poppin'.
The lights are turned way down low...
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

When we finally kiss goodnight,
How I'll hate going out in the storm.
But if you really hold me tight,
All the way home I'll be warm.

The fire is slowly dying.
And, my dear, we're still good-bye-ing.
But as long as you love me so,
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

When we finally kiss goodnight,
How I'll hate going out in the storm.
But if you really hold me tight,
All the way home I'll be warm.

The fire is slowly dying.
And, my dear, we're still good-bye-ing!
And as long as I love you so,
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

PIANO ROLL: I was considering ways I could spice up my cover of this song, and the idea of using an old "piano roll" version of Let It Snow as a piece of my arrangement came to mind. While a lot of piano rolls sound mechanical or too fast because they are playing just the literal notes to the song, without any personal "style", the best "piano roll" versions of songs literally captured great pianists playing the song. Here, for example, is a stylish piano roll rendition of Let It Snow on a YouTube video. Interestingly, the very same musical information captured by a piano roll (recording which note, how long to hold it, and how loud to play it) is captured these days in a digital format called MIDI, which can be directly imported into my musical arrangement software. So what I really was looking for was a MIDI file translation of a beautiful, old "piano roll" recording of Let It Snow — and I found a gorgeous one! There were no credits, so I don't know who to thank, but a big "thank you" anyway to the anonymous pianist.

Of course, making a piano roll part of one's musical arrangement brings further musical challenges. . . Piano rolls were designed to be "one man bands" with very full arrangements: you'd either just listen to them alone (like a jukebox), or the family might gather round the player piano and add their voices. In order for any other instruments to play along, they have to be brassy or sassy enough to match the power of the piano roll. Hence I chose instruments with "punch" — like horn, electric guitars, and upright bass — that can be heard over the piano.

EASTER EGGS: While "Easter egg" may be a funny phrase to use when talking about a December holiday song, I have hidden some Easter eggs here! One is the famous guitar "twang" from Bobby Helms' 1957 release of Jingle Bell Rock.

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