Christmas at Denny's

Christmas at Denny's - A Song by Randy Stonehill

We met for Practice Not Perfect as we often do, joking and sharing the usual niceties. Practice Not Perfect, (PNP), which was created by my dear friend Alessandra - @alessandrawhite. It is a group of friends who meet daily on Zoom to encourage, support, and uplift each other. It’s a wonderful place where we have become a sort of "family" that shares a single passion: music.

This evening was no different, except for the timing. It was December 21st, just three days from Christmas Eve. It is a common time for people to share Christmas songs they like or think are good.

One of our "family" members and co-creator @bitterirony Devin (with an I) - who is a talented songwriter and musician, shared a song with us that I had never heard of before. (I live a sheltered life, so please don't judge me LOL!) But on a more somber note, the Christmas song he shared is not a wonderful, feel-good, rockin' Christmas with fairies, unicorns, and elves type of song. However, it is one of the most profound songs I've heard. It's more like a life story that doesn't have a happy ending (Trigger Warning)!

What it is, though, is a masterpiece full of feeling. You can truly feel the singer and writer's pain as you go on a journey set around Christmas at Denny's. But don't just take my word for it. Go have a listen. I've shared the lyrics below. I claim no credit for the song or lyrics, other than putting this post together. Please remember, though, that this is a song. It's not a real story, I don't think. But it could be someone's story.

Christmas at Denny's

Watch The Music Video Here

Here Are Those Lyrics

They got christmas muzak
Piped in through the ceiling
And the refills of coffee
Are always for free
And the waitress on graveyard
And the surly night manager
Are wishing that all of us losers would leave

There’s a star on the sign
At the texaco station
Like the star long ago
On that midnight clear
As I look all around
At these cold, empty faces
I doubt that you'd find many wise men here

And I'm dreaming about
A silent night
Holy night
When things were alright
And I'm dreaming about
How my life could have been
If only, if only, if only
But somewhere down the road
I gave up that fight
Merry christmas
It's christmas at denny's tonight

Once I had a home
And a wife and a daughter
Had a company job
Earning middle-class pay
Then lisa got killed
By a car near the schoolyard
And my wife started drinking
Just to get through each day

I will never forget that little red wagon
Turning to rust all alone in the rain
One morning I flagged down
A truck on the highway
I just couldn't bear to go back there again

And I'm dreaming about
A silent night
Holy night
When things were alright
And I'm dreaming about
How my life could have been
If only, if only, if only
Well, it's not just the blind man
Who loses his sight
Merry christmas
It's christmas at denny's tonight

They say
Life's made of cruel circumstance
Fate plays the tune and we dance
Dance til we drop
In the dust and we're gone
And the world just goes on

The cop at the counter
He's the guardian angel
He watches these orphans
Through dark mirrored shades
And the register rings
Like a bell sadly tolling
For the fools we've become
And the price that we paid

Oh when I was a boy
I believed in christmas
Miracle season to make a new start
I don't need no miracle, sweet baby jesus
Just help me find
Some kind of hope in my heart

And I'm dreaming about
A silent night
Holy night
When things were alright
And I'm dreaming about
How my life could have been
If only, if only, if only
But I'll still be here
At the morning's first light
Merry christmas
It's christmas at denny's tonight
Merry christmas
It's christmas at denny's tonight

#cwh #country #countrysong #countrymusic
Image created in MidJourney for which I hold a license.