12/25/2023
"Hang all the Mistletoe, I'm going to get to know you better. This Christmas."
Donny Hathaway set out to produce and arrange a song specifically for the black community, made by black artists.
Prior to this, the majority of holiday music recorded by famous black artists were holiday standards written and produced by non black artists.
Originally written and recorded in Chicago, he wanted to capture the culture of the black community in Chicago.
It has a specific focus on the present instead of the past...acknowledging the past hardships often seen within the black community with a promise that "THIS CHRISTMAS" will be ok. Maybe the last one wasn't and the next one may not be ..but this one...can be great.
It's a song about resilience, a centrally important part of being black in America.
He fully intended it to become a holiday anthem for the black community.
The song was first drafted by a black female receptionist, Nadine McKinnor, and shared with Hathaway who re-arranged, produced and recorded it in 1970.
Donnie Hathaway was a gifted musician, often called a musical genius by those who knew him, who studied music on a Fine Arts scholarship at Howard University prior to becoming a working a musician.
Soon after recording "This Christmas", he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He struggled with his illness for years until he died in a presumed su***de in 1979.
"This Christmas" stands as a holiday classic and a reminder to enjoy the present you are in, because the future isn't promised.
"This Christmas" is a song by American soul musician Donny Hathaway released in 1970 by Atco Records. The song gained renewed interest when it was included i...
